U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 

BUREAU OF PLANT INDUSTRY— BULLETIN NO. 160. 

B. T. GALLOWAY, Oiiefof Bureau. 



ITALIAN LEMONS AND THEIR 

8 B BY-PRODUCTS. 

3G^ . ^- 

.PS I. -THE ITALIAN LEMON INDUSTRY. 

BY 

G. HAROLD POWELL, 

POMOLOGIST IN ChARGE OF FrUIT .TrANSPORTATIOX 

AXD Storage Investigations. 
II -THE BY-PRODUCTS OF THE LEMON IN ITALY. 



E. M. CHACE, 

Assistant Chief of the Division of Foods, 

Bureau of Chemistry. 



Issued October 6, 1909. 




WASHINGTON: 

government PRINTINCr OFFICE. 




Glass. 
Book. 






U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 

'' BUREAU OF PLANT INDUSTRY— BULLETIN NO. 160. 

B. T. GALLOWAY, Chief of Bureau. 



ITALIAN LEMONS AND THEIR 
BY-PRODUCTS. 



I. -THE ITALIAN LEMON INDUSTRY. 

BY 

G? HAROLD POWELL, 

PoMOLOGiST IN Charge of Fruit Transportation 

AND Storage Investigations. 



IL-THE BY-PRODUCTS OF THE LEMON IN ITALY. 



..^ 



Assistant Chieb' of the Division of Foods, . 
Bureau of Chemistry. 



Issued October 6, 1909. 




WASHINGTON: 

government printing office, 

1909. 



e.^^^ 
^^^. 



<o^ 



BUREAU OF PLANT INDUSTRY. 



Chief of Bureau, Beverly T. Galloway. 
Assistant Chief of Bureau, Albert F. Woods. 
Editor, J. E. Rockwell. 
Chief Clerk, James E. Jones. 



Field Investigations in Pomology, 
scientific staff. 

William A. Taylor, Pomologist in Charge of Fruit Marketinr/ Investigations. 

O. Harold Powell, Pomologist in Charge of Fruit Transportation and storage In- 
vestigations. 
George C. riusmann, Pomologist in Charge of Titicultural Investigations. 
A. D. Shamel, Physiologist in Charge of Citrus Fruit Breeding Investigations. 
A. V. Stubenrauch, Expert in Fruit Transportation. 
H. P. Gould, Pomologist in Charge of Fruit District Investigations. 

L. S. Tenny, Pomologist in Fruit Marketing, Transportation, and Storage Investigations. 
S. J. Dennis, Expert in Refrigeration. 

George W. Hosford, A.'^sistant Pomologist in Fruit Marketing, Transportation, and Stor- 
age Investigations. 
Andrew W. McKay, Expert in Fruit Storage. 

William F. Fletcher, Scientific Assistant in Fruit District Investigations. 
H. M. White, Scientific Assistant in Fruit Marketing, Transportation, and Storage Inves- 
tigations. 
Burr B. Pratt, Scientific Assistant in Fruit Transportation and Storage Investigations. 
J. Etna Buck, Expert in Viticultural Investigations. 
F. L. Husmann, Viticultural Superintendent. 
C. A. Reed, Special Agent in Pecan Investigations. 
160 



6061 6 100 



K - 

^- LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL. 



U. S. Department of Agriculture, 

Bureau or Plant Industry, 

Office of the Chief, 
Washington^ D. C.^ June 17^ 1909. 

Sir: I have the honor to transmit herewith a manuscript entitled 
" Italian Lemons and Their By-Products," consisting of two papers, 
'' The Italian Lemon Industry " and " The By-Products of the Lemon 
in Italy," and to recommend that it be published as Bulletin No. 160 
of the Bureau series. These papers have been prepared by Mr, G. 
Harold Powell, Pomologist in Charge of Fruit Transportation and 
Storage Investigations, Bureau of Plant Industry, and by Mr. E. M. 
Chace, Assistant Chief of the Division of Foods, Bureau of Chemis- 
try, with a view to publication. 

The observations summarized in the first manuscript were made by 
Mr. Powell, who went to Italy in the fall of 1908 to study the methods 
used in the development of the lemon industry. During the trip 
through Sicily he was accompanied by Dr. Arthur S. Cheney, Amer- 
ican consul at Messina, who was killed in the earthquake in December, 
who rendered the greatest service to the Department of Agricidture 
on this trip on account of his familiarity with the lemon industry 
and with the people. The j)aper on " The By-Products of the 
Lemon in Italy " was prepared by Mr. Chace, who investigated these 
products, especially the oil of lemon, in Sicily in 1908 for the Bureau 
of Chemistry. The Bureau of Chemistry also received much assist- 
ance from Doctor Cheney in connection with its work. 

The lemon industry is increasing rapidly in the United States. 
The crop in California now amounts to from one-third to two-fifths 
of the total quantity used in the United States. The remainder of 
the supply is imported chiefl}^ from Italy. The by-product business 
has not yet assumed commercial importance in California, but there 
is an increasing interest developing in this branch of the industry. 

The observations made in this bulletin should be helpful to the 
American lemon industry in showing the status of the industry in 
Italy and the methods used in growing, marketing, and distributing 
the crop. 

Respectfully, B. T. Galloway, 

Chief of Bureau. 

Hon. James Wilson, 

Secretary of Agriculture. 
160 3 



CONTENTS, 



PagA 

-The Italian lemon industry 7 

Introduction 7 

The extent and location of the Italian lemon industry 7 

The commercial importance of the Italian lemon industry 10 

The exports of lemons from Italy 11 

The imports of lemons into the United States 11 

The districts from which Italian lemons are exported to the United States. 12 

The distribution of foreign lemons in the United States 13 

The methods of handling foreign lemons in the United States 13 

Methods of securing the lemons 13 

Methods used in selling the lemons 14 

The exports of lemon by-products from Italy 15 

The exports of citrate of lime 15 

The imports of citrate of lime into the United States 16 

The exports of essential oils from citrus fruits 16 

The imports of lemon oil into the United States 17 

The exports of concentrated lemon and citron juice 17 

The exports of raw citron and lemon juice 18 

The exports of lemon, orange, and other citrus-fruit peel 18 

The rates of duty on lemons and their by-products entering the United 

States 19 

The season of lemon ripening in Italy 20 

The character of the lemons in different regions of Italy 21 

The character of the lemons exported to different markets 21 

Terms applied to lemons ripening at different periods 22 

The Verdelli lemons 22 

Method of production 23 

The lemon groves or gardens of Italy 23 

Handling the lemon garden. 24 

Propagation 24 

Pruning 25 

Tillage 25 

Fertilizing 25 

Irrigation 26 

Protection against frost 27 

Handling the lemon crop 28 

Selling the fruit 28 

Methods used in the gardens 30 

Methods used in the packing houses 31 

The cost of producing lemons in Italy 32 

160 5 



b CONTENTS. 

Page. 

II. — The by-products of the lemon in Italy 35 

Introduction 35 

Geographical distribution of the by-product industry 35 

The industry in the Etna district 36 

The industry in the Messina district 38 

The industry in the Palermo district 40 

The industry in the Syracuse district 41 

The industry in the north-coast towns 42 

Manufacture of by-products 43 

Equipment of by-product factories 44 

Preparation of the fruit 44 

Extraction of the essential oil 45 

Treatment of the residues 47 

Machine-made essential oil 48 

Citrate of lime 49 

Cost of production of by-products 50 

Description of plates 52 

Index 53 



LUSTRATIONS 



PLATES. 

Page. 
Plate I. Lemon groves on the Amalfi coast. Fig. 1. — Terraces on the moun- 
tain side. Fig. 2. — Terraces rising from the sea 52 

II. An Italian and an American lemon grove compared. Fig. 1. — A 
grove at Mascali, Sicily, showing a distributing furrow and basins 
around the trees. Fig. 2. — A grove of low-headed trees in Cali- 
fornia 52 

III. A lemon-picking scene and a packing-house interior. Fig. 1. — Pick- 

ing and grading the fruit, Palermo. Fig. 2. — Interior of a pack- 
ing house, Catania 52 

IV. Preparation of citrate of lime. Fig. 1. — A crushing machine. 

Fig. 2. — A lemon-juice press 52 

V. Preparation of lemon oil. Fig. 1. — Paring lemons, 3-piece method, 

Palermo. Fig. 2. — Interior of lemon by-product factory, Syracuse. 52 
VI. Lemon-oil machinery. Fig. 1. — A lemon-oil machine used in Cala- 
bria. Fig. 2. — Disks used in Calabrian machines 52 

TEXT FIGURES. 

Fig. 1. Map of Italy and adjacent countries 9 

2. A trellis over a lemon grove 28 

3. Lemon trees growing imder a trellis 29 

4. Map of Sicily, showing the regions where lemon by-products are pre- 

pared 36 

5. A lemon-oil still used on residues, Palermo 47 

160 



B. P. I. — 493. 



ITALIAN LEMONS AND THEIR BY-PRODUCTS. 



I.-THE ITALIAN LEMON INDUSTRY. 

By G. Harold Powell, Pomologist in Charge of Fruit Transportatinn and 

Storage Investigations. 



INTRODUCTION. 

The lemon is grown in Hearly all parts of Italy, from the provinces 
of Lombardy and Venetia on the north to the island of Sicily on the 
south. The distinction acquired by Italy as the lemon-growing 
center of the world is due principally to the fruit and by-products 
from the groves in the southern Mediterranean region, especially on 
the Sorrentine peninsula, across the bay from Naples, in the province 
of Calabria, and in Sicily. There are few parts of the world where 
horticulture has been more highly developed, where the products 
enter more widely into commerce, and where, on the whole, an indus- 
try has thrived more and has contributed to the welfare of a greater 
number of people. 

In the provinces of the northern and the central part of the coun- 
try the climatic conditions preclude the development of an extensive 
commercial lemon culture. Though a comparatively large industry 
was developed there in the past, lemon culture has been on the decline 
during the last decade in this part of Italy. The trees suffer too 
often from frost, from high winds, and from driving rains, predis- 
posing them to disease and making lemon growing there a precarious 
undertaking. In southern Italy and in Sicily the climate is milder 
and more like that of southern California. The number of lemon 
trees in that part of Italy is at least fifteen times the number in 
California. 

THE EXTENT AND LOCATION OF THE ITALIAN LEMON INDUSTRY. 

It is difficult to obtain exact statistical information on the lemon 
industry of Italy. In 1904 there were about 17,000,000 citrus-fruit 
trees of all kinds in Italy, at least 8,000,000 of which are said to be 
lemons. Probably three-fourths or more of the lemon trees are lo- 
cated in Sicily. In 1898 there were over 6,000,000 lemon trees in 
160 7 



8 ITALIAN LEMONS AND THEIR BY-PEODUCTS, 

Sicily. The next most extensive regions are Eeggio di Calabria and 
the Sorrentine peninsula, both on the mainland, the former having 
about a million trees and the latter 500,000 or more. 

On the Sorrentine peninsula the most extensive groves, or gardens 
as they are called in Italy, are located on the Amalfi coast, at Majori, 
Minori, Amalfi, and to a smaller extent at other places from Cetra to 
Positana. The tfees are planted on walled terraces on the mountain 
sides that rise abruptly from the Gulf of Salerno, as shown in Plate 
I, figures 1 and 2. The trees are covered with straw mats placed on 
trellises late in the fall, to protect them from frost during the winter 
months. There are many groves also on the side of the Bay of 
Naples in the vicinity of Sorrento, and other plantings in the vicinity 
of Naples, the trees in the Naples district in 1898 numbering 180,000. 
There are also many groves in the vicinity of Cosenza and Catanzaro 
and at Eeggio, in the province of Calabria, the by-product industry 
having reached the highest development in the latter district. A 
map of Italy and adjacent countries is shown in figure 1. 

Sicily is the heart of the lemon industry of the world. The groves 
are located near the coast along the northern and eastern sides of the 
triangular island, usually in a narrow strip, but sometimes extending 
inland into the fertile valleys and up the slopes of the hills and 
mountains a thousand feet or more in elevation. The groves are 
locally distinguished as the upland and the valley, or lowland, groves, 
though the term " upland groves " is often applied to trees planted 
on heavier soils irrespective of altitude and the term '' lowland 
groves " to trees planted on lighter soils. On the north coast of Sicily 
the groves extend from Messina to Palermo somewhat irregularly, 
with a distinct break between Termini and Santo Stefano, where the 
mountains reach the sea, and beyond Palermo to a limited extent to 
Trapani. The principal lemon-growing center between Messina and 
Santo Stefano is Barcelona, with smaller centers around Bauso, 
Naso, Santa Agata di Miletello, and other smaller places. Near 
Palermo the most important districts on the coast are Bagheria and 
Ficarazzi, On the eastern coast there is an almost continuous nar- 
row ribbon of groves close to the Strait of Messina, with inland 
valleys, like the Alcantara, reaching from Messina to Catania. In 
the Catania region, located on the lava beds of Mount Etna, the most 
important districts are Acireale, Giarre, Mascali, and Fiumefreddo. 
In the district extending northeast beyond Giardini the gardens are 
almost unbroken to Messina, the most important districts lying 
around Letojanni, Santa Teresa, Eoccalumera, Galati, Tremestieri, 
and Gazzi, with Messina as the center from which the fruit and 
by-products are shipped. There is another district on the southeast 
coast around Syracuse, extending from Augusta to Avola, where it 

160 



EXTENT AND LOCATION OF ITALIAN LEMON INDUSTEY. 



9 



is less mountainous than in other parts of the island and where the 
industry is farther inland. Syracuse is the most important center 
of this region. The industry is developed most extensively in the 
province of Palermo, in which is located the Conco d'Oro, or the 
Place of Gold. This beautiful valley extends inland from Palermo 




Fig. 1. — Map of Italy and adjacent countries. 

to Monreale and is planted with several thousand acres of lemon 
groves and other fruits. Hardly second in the extent of the industry 
are the provinces of Messina and of Catania, with the provinces of 
Syracuse, Trapani, Caltanissetta, and Girgenti, mentioned in the 
order of their importance, containing fewer trees. 

160 



10 ITALIAN LEMONS AND THEIR BY-PRODUCTS. 

The fresh fruit export industry centers in the province of Palermo, 
with the city of Palermo as the port of export. Before the earth- 
quake in December, 1908, Messina was the center of the lemon oil, 
citrate of lime, and other citrus by-product industries. There was 
some fresh fruit exported from Messina before the earthquake, the 
exports going chiefly to European countries. There is also a limited 
shipment of fresh fruit and by-products from Catania and small 
shipments from Syracuse. 

In 1898 the distribution of lemon trees in the provinces of southern 
Italy, including Reggio di Calabria and Sicily, was as follows: 



Reggio di Calabria 1,232,765 

Sicily : 

Messina 1, 634, 231 

Palermo 2, 488, 475 

Catania 828, 640 

Syracuse 460, 125 



Sicily — Continued. 

Caltanissetta 8,210 

Girgenti .56,379 

Trapani 216, 160 



Total 6. 924. 985 



The total number of trees in the provinces of central Italy in 1898 
was 798,214, while in the northern provinces there were 564,559 trees, 
making a total of 8,287,758 lemon trees for the country as a whole. 
Detailed statistics since 1898 of the different kinds of citrus fruits 
in Italy are not available, but from the general data at hand it is 
probable that the number of trees in southern Italy has at least not 
decreased and has probably increased. 

THE COMMERCIAL IMPORTANCE OF THE ITALIAN LEMON 

INDUSTRY. 

From careful inquiries made by Dr. Arthur S. Cheney, the Ameri- 
can consul who lost his life in December, 1908, in the earthquake at 
Messina, it was estimated that the crop of 1907 in Sicily and Calabria 
amounted to 6,900,000,000 lemons. It is estimated in Italy that one- 
third or more of the crop is usually converted into by-products, such 
as citrate of lime, lemon oil, and lemon peel, principally for export. 
Expressed in terms of boxes of 330 lemons each, the Sicilian and 
Calabrian crop would equal more than 20,000,000 boxes, or an equiva- 
lent of about 64,000 California carloads of 312 boxes each. The 
quantity that is converted into citrate of lime alone amounts to over 
20,000 carloads of fruit, the j^roduct of 1907 equaling 23,000 pipes of 
672 pounds each. It requires about 100,000 lemons, or the equivalent 
of nearly a carload of fruit, to make a pipe of citrate of lime. It is 
estimated by some Italian writers that nearly 2,000,000,000 lemons are 
required annually for domestic consumption, while the remainder of 
the crop, or a little over one-third of the total, is exported to different 
countries in the form of fresh fruit. These figures should be con- 
sidered only as approximations of the extent of the lemon industry 
in Italy. The estimate of the domestic consumption is probably too 
high. 

160 



THE IMPORTS OF LEMONS INTO THE UNITED STATES. 



11 



THE EXPORTS OF LEMONS FROM ITALY. 

The exports of fresh lemons from Italy have increased more than 
75 per cent in the last ten years, or from 325,000,000 pounds in the 
calendar year 1898 to more than 559,000,000 pounds in 1907. Of the 
total exports of fresh lemons, the largest proportion is shipped to the 
United States, it having received from 29 to 41 per cent of the exports 
annually in the last ten years, the proportion running above 35 per 
cent in six years out of the ten. 

The United Kingdom has received from 17.7 to 25 per cent annually 
in the last ten years, and Austria-Hungary from 14.4 to 22.8 per cent 
annually. The remainder of the exports are distributed to Canada, 
France, Australia, Germany, Russia, and to various other countries 
in smaller quantities. 

The following table, compiled from official statistics," shows the 
exports of fresh lemons from Italy in quantity and in value during 
the calendar years 1898 to 1908, inclusive. The proportion exported 
to the United States has been determined from figures published by 
the same official source. 

Table I. — Exports of Irrions from Italy, 1808 to t'JOS, inclusive. 



Calendar year 

ended 
December 31— 


Quantity. 


Value. 


Exports 

to 
United 

States. 


Calendar year 

ended 
December 31— 


Quantity. 


Value. 


Exports 

to 
United 

States. 


1898 


Pounds. 
325,504,061 
369,473,041 
311,563,577 
368,801,294 
490,0.53,960 
459,622,020 


$3,419,486 
3,234,489 
3,000,286 
3,228,610 
3,432,077 
3,218,948 


Per cent. 
41.3 
36.7 
29.0 
29.2 
35.3 
31.2 


1904 


Pounds. 
514,137,472 
452,903,6.55 
5.50,524,096 
559,549,378 
540,332,790 


$3,600,745 
3,171,899 
4, 3.37, ,525 
4,408,6.53 

4,257,229 


Per cent. 
37 3 


1899 


1905 


32 1 


1900 


1906.. . 


37 1 


1901 


1907 


37 8 


1902 


1908 


32 7 


1903 











" Value for 1908 in Italian trade statistics subject to revision in 1909. 



THE IMPORTS OF LEMONS INTO THE UNITED STATES.'' 

The total imports of fresh lemons into the United States during the 
fiscal years 1898 to 1908, inclusive, practically all of which are re- 
ceived from Italy, are shown in the table following. The figures 
for 1908 represent the general imports, which are somewhat in excess 
of the imports for consumption. The reader should bear in mind 
that the figures from Italian sources cover calendar years, while the 
American figures cover fiscal years. They are therefore not com- 
parable. 

"For 1907 and previous years: MoviineDto Commerciale del Regno d'llalia. 
J^or 1908 : Statistica del Commercio Speciale di Importazione e di Esportazione 
del 1 Gennaio al 31 Dieembre, 1908. 

^ United States Imports : Foreign Commerce and Navigation of the United 
States, Bureau of Statistics, U. S. Department of Commerce and Labor. 
100 



12 



ITALIAN LEMONS AND THEIR BY-PEODUCTS. 



Table II. — Total imports of lemons into the United States for consumption, 

1898 to 1908, inclusive. 



Fiscal year ended 
June 30— 


Quantity. 


Value. 


Fiscal year ended 
June 30— 


Quantity. 


Value. 


1898 


Pounds. 
133, 347, 050 
208, 634, 448 
159,384,389 
148,334,112 
162, 962, 091 
152, 775, 867 


$2,521,985.32 
4, 399, 160. 72 
3, 055, 946. 85 
3,516,877.29 
3,318,908.82 
3,087,244.22 


1 QriK /general tariff . . 
^^""-••■tfromCuba.... 

1907 /general tariff.. 
^^"'----\fromCuba.... 

ions /general tariff.. 
^^"^— "ifromCuba.... 


Pounds. 
138,689,148 
1,122 


$2,934,195.34 


1899 


26.80 






1901 


138,690,270 


2, 934, 222. 14 






1903 


153,930,739 
34,519 


4,254,230.56 




1,236.00 


iQm /general tariff. . 
^^"^••--\fromCuba.... 


164,042,415 
410 


3,507,679.55 
6.00 


153,965,258 


4,255,466.56 




164,042,825 


3,507,685.55 


178, 437, 835 
21,298 


4,388,247.95 
393.00 


iqnrc f general tariff . . 


139,079,003 
3,528 


2,904,975.44 
71.00 


178, 459, 133 


4,388,640.95 




139,082,531 


2,905,046.44 





The general imports into the United States exceed in variable 
quantities the imports for consumption from year to year, as the im- 
jDorts for other countries, such as Canada, pass largely through 
American ports. 

About 50 per cent of the total imports are received in the United 
States from May to July, inclusive, the heaviest shipments in recent 
years arriving in June. From 70 to 80 per cent of the total imports 
arrive from March to August, inclusive. 

Of the imports of lemons into the United States during the last 
ten fiscal years, from 82.29 to 89.85 per cent of the total have been 
received in the customs district of New York; from 3.02 to 8.07 per 
cent of the total in Boston and Charlestown ; from 1.G7 to 9.44 per cent 
of the total in New Orleans; from 0.35 to 1.G5 per cent of the total 
in Philadelphia; from 0.29 to 1.(37 per cent of the total in Baltimore; 
and from 0.2G to 3.34 per cent of the total in other customs districts. 



THE DISTRICTS FROM WHICH ITALIAN LEMONS ARE EXPORTED 
TO THE UNITED STATES. 

The lemons exported from Italy to the United States are forwarded 
principally from Palermo, Messina, and Naples. The fruit shipped 
from these ports may not have been grown in the vicinity of the 
ports, as the exporters in one district frequently buy fruit in another 
and have it shipped in for jDacking. The exporters in Palermo, for 
example, may ship lemons from the districts of Messina or Catania 
which have been forwarded by rail to Palermo to be prepared for 
export at that point. Allien shipped, these lemons are recorded as 
Palermo fruit. The shipments from Naples include most of the 
lemons from Sorrento, from the Amalfi coast, and from other points 
in the Sorrentine peninsula. 
leo 



METHODS OF HANDLING FOREIGN LEMONS. 



13 



The following figures, furnished by Mr. Victor L. Zorn, president 
of the New York Fruit Exchange, show the number of boxes of 
lemons from these districts received at the port of New York from 
1903 to 1908, inclusive: 



Table III. 



-Boxes of lemons received in New York from Italian ports, 1903 to 
1908, inclusive. 



Year ended December 31 — 


Ports of export. 


Total. 


Palermo. 


Messina. 


Naples. 


1903 


1,506,850 
1,581,500 
1,298,250 
1,468,800 
1,047,925 
1,625,525 


339, 000 
316,900 

98, 100 
159, 100 
101,400 

85,250 


57, 850 
71, 950 
35, GOO 
75, GOO 
211,100 
117,350 


1,903,700 


1904 - 


1,970,350 
1,431,950 


1905 


1906 


1,703,500 


1907 


1,960,425 
1,828,125 


1908 







From these figures it will be seen that from 80.2 to 90.G per cent of 
the total exports of lemons to New York since 1903 have been for- 
warded from Palermo, from 4.6 to 17.8 per cent from Messina, and 
from 2.5 to 10.8 per cent from Naples. The shipments from Messina 
in the past have gone largely to Germany, Russia, Austria, Canada, 
Norway, and Sweden. 

THE DISTRIBUTION OF FOREIGN LEMONS IN THE UNITED 

STATES. 

The trade in foreign lemons is confined largely to the eastern half 
of the United States. In the territory west of the Missouri River, 
including central and western Texas, the trade is supplied almost 
exclusively with California lemons. In the Middle West, especially 
in the territory north of the Ohio River, where the competition be- 
tween the domestic and foreign lemons is close, probably from 50 to 
60 per cent of the lemons handled are imported from Italy. In the 
South Central States, including eastern Texas, the trade is supplied 
largely with Italian lemons distributed from New Orleans, and in 
the territory east of the Alleghenies the trade is supplied principally 
with foreign fruit distributed from New York, and in smaller quan- 
tity from the ports already mentioned. 

THE METHODS OF HANDLING FOREIGN LEMONS IN THE UNITED 

STATES. 

METHODS OF SECURING THE LEMONS. 

The lemons imported into the United States are usually secured 
from Italian sources in one of four general business methods, which 
are believed to be stated in their order of importance as follows : 

(1) The purchase of the fruit by the importer in America from 
the shipper in Sicily at a fixed price, generally including freight. 

160 



14 ITALIAN LEMONS AND THEIR BY-PRODUCTS. 

It is probable that at leant half of the lemons imported are purchased 
by the importer in this manner. Purchases of this kind are gener- 
ally made on letters of credit issued through an American bank, the 
letter of credit usually equaling a little less than the purchase price. 
The shipper and the buyer agree that the fruit shall consist of certain 
grades and sizes. In making the letter of credit the buyer includes 
the specifications covering the purchase, as, for example, 60 per cent 
first grade and 40 per cent second grade, and 50 per cent 300's and 50 
per cent 360's, and specifies what proportion of the total payment is 
to be advanced. The shipper presents this letter of credit with a bill 
of lading to the correspondent of the bank issuing the letter after 
the fruit is loaded for shipment, the bill of lading specifying the 
grades and sizes covered by the letter of credit. The money is then 
paid by the bank to the shipper. 

(2) The shipment of fruit on commission on the strength of an 
advance by the importer of an amount less than the market value 
of the fruit at the time of shipment. The advances vary from $1 to 
$1.75 a box, depending on the condition of the market. The finan- 
cial transaction is handled through letters of credit, as just de- 
scribed. 

(3) The shipment of the fruit for the joint account of the shipper 
and the importer. Under this method the shipper and the importer 
agree on a price that represents the cost of the fruit f. o. b. in Italy. 
The importer advances to the shipper through a letter of credit an 
amount usually about 25 cents less than the agreed cost price per box. 
When the fruit is sold, the profit or loss is shared equally by the 
importer and the shipper. 

(4) The shipment on commission without an advance from the con- 
signee in the United States. This method of shipment is limited in 
extent. 

METHODS USED IN SELLING THE LEMONS. 

The lemons imported are generally sold at public auction, soon after 
arrival at the port of entry, by companies who unload the cargo, 
prepare it for display on the pier or in the auction room, and sell it 
at public sale under fixed rules and regulations. Some lemons are 
received each year at the port of New York to be shipped to other 
points in the United States or to be forwarded in bond to Canada, 
and small quantities may be received at other ports, to be reshipped 
in the same manner. 

New York is the principal selling point for the foreign lemons 
used in the eastern half of the United States, with the exception of 
the Gulf States and the adjoining territory, which are supplied from 
New Orleans. The fruit for the eastern and interior markets, distrib- 
uted from New York, is usually purchased by the dealer through resi- 

160 



EXPORTS OF LEMON BY-PRODUCTS FROM ITALY. 



15 



dent New York brokers, but occasionally the dealer attends the sale 
and purchases the fruit in person. 

THE EXPORTS OF LEMON BY-PRODUCTS FROM ITALY. 

The i^rincipal products made from the lemon are citrate of lime, 
essential oils, concentrated and raw lemon juice, and green or pre- 
pared lemon peel. The by-product business is confined largely to 
Sicily and Calabria. This business holds the same relation to the 
lemon industry of Italy that the evaporating industry holds to the 
apple industry of western Xew York and of other parts of the United 
States or that the canning and drying industries hold to the deciduous 
fruit business of California. It makes it j^ossible either to convert 
the low grades of fruit into useful products or to use a variable pro- 
portion of the better grades of fresh fruit in this manner during the 
months when prices are low or when the foreign demand for fresh 
fruit temj^orarily decreases. 

thp: exports of citrate of lime. 

Citrate of lime, or calcium citrate, is the most important by-product 
of the lemon and is an intermediate product in the manufacture of 
citric acid. Citric acid is not made in Italy. The citrate of lime is 
exported to different countries and is there converted into the acid. 
The exports of citrate of lime from Italy have increased from about 
3,000,000 pounds in 1899 to nearly 17,000,000 pounds in the calendar 
year 1908. The United States is the heaviest buj^er of this product, 
having received from 32.5 to 40.7 per cent of the total exports from 
Italy in the last ten years except in 1904, when the proj)ortion dropped 
to 26.8 per cent. France and the United Kingdom are the next 
heaviest importers, the quantities received sometimes nearly equaling 
the exports to the United States. 

The table following, from Italian statistics, shows the total exports 
of citrate of lime from Italy during the calendar years 1899 to 1908, 
inclusive, with the percentage of the total exported to the United 
States : 

Table IV. — Exports of citrate of lime from Italy, 1899 to 1908, inclusive^ 



Calendar year 
ended Decem- 
ber 31— 


Quantity. 


Value. 


Exports 
to United 

States. 


Calendar year 
ended Decem- 
ber 31— 


Quantity. 


Value. 


Exports 

to United 

States. 


1899 


Pounds. 

3, 142, 248 

3,743,448 

3,120,202 

7,517,541 

7,229,617 


$151,296 
196, 628 
147,502 
329,055 
632, 905 


Per cent. 
32.8 
37.6 
35.3 
32.5 
38.0 


1904 


Pounds. 
12, 193, 764 

9,096,050 
11,353,362 
13, 598, 990 
16,997,856 


$1,067,483 

875,929 

1,292,085 

2, 142, 902 

6 2,678,489 


Per cent. 
26 8 


1900 


1905 


37.9 


1901 


1906 . . 


40 7 


1902 


1907 


34 6 


1903 


1908 


31 3 









" For 1907 and previous years : Movimento Commerciale del Regno d'ltalia. For 1008 : 
Statistica del Commercio Speciale di Importazione e di Esportazione del 1 Gennaio al 31 
Dicembre, 1908. 

* Value for 1908 in Italian trade statistics subject to revision in 1909. 

15S7— Bull, 160—09 2 



16 ITALIAN LEMONS AND THEIR BY-PKODUCTS. 

THE IMPORTS OF CITRATE OF LIME INTO THE UNITED STATES. 

The total imports of citrate of lime into the United States for the 
fiscal years 1894 to 1908, inclusive, are given in the table following: 

Table V. — Imports of citrate of lime into the United States for consumption, 

189-i to 1908, inclusive^ 



Fiscal year ended June 30— 



1894. 
1895. 
1896, 
1897. 
1898. 
1899. 
1900. 
1901. 



Quantity. 



Pounds. 

443, 981 

608,214 

668, 106 

496, 291 

1,026,467 

1,577,804 

1,944,863 

2,416,088 



Value. 



$52, 137 
59, 458 
66, 388 
42,090 
84,789 
157, 432 
204,243 
299, 583 



Fiscal year ended June 30— i Quantity. 



I Pounds. 

1902 1 3,066,904 

1903 ' 2, 657, 110 

1904 2,926,529 

1905 ' 3, 444, 344 

1906 3,903,234 

1907 3,872,924 

1908 3,853,105 



Value. 



$293,293 
240, 466 
274, 130 
355,728 
534, 977 
726,626 
580,293 



« United States Imports : Foreign Commerce and Navigation of the United States, 
Bureau of Statistics, U. S. Department of Commerce and Labor. 

THE EXPORTS (_)F ESSENTIAL OILS FROM CITRUS FRUITS. 

The exports of essential oils of all citrus fruits, including lemon, 
orange, and bergamot, are usually lumped in Italian statistics. From 
1900 to 1905, during which time the statistics were separated, the 
lemon oil comprised from 62.5 to 84 per cent of .the total exj^orts of 
citrus-fruit oils. The total exports have approximated 1,000,000 
pounds a year during the last ten years. From 24.9 to 38.8 per cent 
of the total exports of essential oils have been sent to the United 
States during that period. 

The folloAving table, from Italian statistical sources, shows the total 
exports of essential oils of lemon, orange, and other citrus fruits 
from Italy for the calendar years 1898 to 1908, inclusive, with the 
percentage of the total exported to the United States : 

Table VI. — Exports of essential oils of lemon, orange, and other citrus fruits 
from Italy, 1898 to 1908, inclusive.'^ 



Calendar year 
ended Decem- 
ber 31- 


Quantity. : Value. 


E.xports 

to United 

States. 


Calendar year 

ended Decem- 

l)er 31— 


Quantity. 


Value. 


Exports 
to United 

States. 


1898 


Pounds. 

1,010,491 

1,298,130 

1,100,812 

1,101,504 

1,425,438 

1,233,210 


$1,150,003 
1,590,997 
1,541,900 
1,398,226 
1,871,814 
1,619,391 


Percent. 
24.9 
26.6 
27.8 
28.1 
38.8 
34.8 


1904 


Pounds. 
1,419,695 
1,292,136 
971,334 
1,034,816 
1,051,256 


$2,485,697 

2,262,358 

935,373 

1,358,870 

<• 1,380,458 


Per cent. 
38.3 


1899 


1905 


31.1 


1900 


IWHb 


36.7 


1901 


19076 


41.5 


1902 


19086 


33.2 


1903 

















"For 1907 and previous years: Movimento Commerciale del Regno d'ltalia. For 1908: 
Statistica del Commercio Speciale di Importazione e di Esportazione del 1 Gennalo al 31 
Dicembre, 1908. 

* Since 1905 all the exports stated are lemon oil. 

« Value for 1908 in Italian trade statistics subject to revision in 1909. 

160 



EXPORTS OF LEMON BY-PKODUCTS FROM ITALY. 



17 



The quantity of lemon oil included in the exports shown above, 
from 1900 to 1908, inclusive, is given in the table following: 

Table VII. — E.rports of lemon oil from Italy, 1900 to 1908, inclusive.^ 



Calendar year ended December 31— 


Quantity. 


Calendar year ended December 31— 


Quantity. 


1900 


Pounds. 
743, 024 
826, 446 

1,197,213 
970,565 
880, 990 


1905. 


Pounds. 

840,417 


1901 


1906 


971,334 


1902 


1907. 


1,034 816 


1903 


19086 


1,051,256 


1904 . . 











"For 1!>07 and previous years: Movimento Commerciale del Regno d'ltalia. For 1908: 
Statistica del Commercio Speciale di Importazione e di Esportazione del 1 Gennaio al 31 
Dlcembre, 1908. 

" Value for 1908 in Italian trade statistics subject to revision in 1909. 

THE IMPORTS OF LEMON OIL INTO THE UNITED STATES. 

The following table shows the total imports of lemon oil into the 
United States for the fiscal years 1898 to 1908, inclusive : 

Table VIII. — Total imports of lemon oil into the United States for consump- 
tion, 1898 to 1908, inclusive.'^ 



Fiscal vear ended 
June 30— 


Quantity. 


Value. 


Fiscal year ended 
Juno 30— 


Quantity. 


Value. 


1898... 


Pounds. 
160,264 
237, 302 
261,978 
268,341 
391,485 
361,210 


$117,021.00 
185, 728. 00 
211,800.00 
231,040.78 
282,092.00 
233, 487. 00, 


1904 


Pounds. 
294, 508 
310,056 
370, 270 
487,717 
440, 326 


$174,649.00 
175,852.00 
218, 749. 00 
423 133 00 


1899 


1905 


1900 


1906 • 


1901 


1907 


1902 


1908 


592,533.00 


1903 - . . 









" United States Imports : Foreign Commerce and Navigation of the United States, Bureau 
of Statistics, U. S. Department of Commerce and Labor. 



THE EXPORTS OF CONCENTRATED LEMON AND CITRON JUICE. 

The exports of concentrated lemon and citron juice, which are 
lumped together in Italian statistics, have decreased from about 
5,000,000 pounds in 1899 to about 1,400,000 pounds in 1907. The 
United Kingdom and France are the largest receivers. The jiropor- 
tion of the total exported to the United States has varied from 1.1 to 
10.6 per cent in ten years. In the last five years the proportion has 
varied from 5.6 to 10 per cent. 



18 



ITALIAN LEMONS AND THEIR BY-PRODUCTS. 



The following table shows the total exports of concentrated lemon 
and citron juice from Italy for the calendar years 1898 to 1908, 
inclusive : 

Table IX. — Exports of concentraicd lemon and citron juice from Italy, 1S98 to 

1908, inclusive.'^ 



Calendar year 

ended 
December 31— 


Quantity. 


Value. 


Exports 
to United 

States. 


Calendar year 

ended 
December 31 — 


Quantity. 


Value. 


Exports 

to United 

States. 


1898 


Pounds. 
5,205,333 

5,496,784 
4,407,921 
4, 117, 132 
4,989,941 
3, 180, 829 


$273,415 
288,724 
231,531 
233, 465 
270,838 
175, 430 


Per cent. 
8.0 
1.5 
5.3 
2.9 
1.1 
5.6 


1904 


Pounds. 

4, 728, 694 

2,462,019 

2,074,109 

1,443,140 

1,844,387 


$269,078 
150,339 
118,023 
94, 753 

''121,098 


Per cent. 
10.0 


1899 


1905 


6.0 


1900 


1906 


6.9 


1901 


1907 


7.5 


1902 


1908 


10.6 


1903 











" For 1907 and previous years : Movimento Commerciale del Regno d"ltalia. For 1908 : 
Statistics del Commercio Speciale di Importazione e di Esportazione del 1 Gennaio al 
31 Dicembre, 1908. 

* Value for 1908 in Italian trade statistics subject to revision in 1909. 

THE EXPORTS OF RAW CITRON AND LEMON JUICE. 

The exjDorts from Italy of raw citron and lemon juice combined 
have varied from 1,357,827 to 4,474,044 pounds in the last ten years. 
The proportion exported to the United States has varied from 4.1 
per cent of the total, the lowest, in 1900, to 16.1 per cent, the highest, 
in both 1899 and 1902. 

The table following, from Italian statistical sources, shows the total 
exports of raw citron and lemon juice from Italy during the calendar 
years 1898 to 1908, inclusive, and the percentage of the total shipped 
to the United States: 

Table X. — E./ports of raw citron and lemon juice from Italy, 1898 to 1908, 

inclusive.'^ 



Calendar year 

ended Decemlier 

31— 


Quantity. 


Value. 


Exports 

to United 

States. 


Calendar year 

ended December 

31— 


Quantity. 


Value. 


Exports 

to United 

States. 


1898 


Pounds. 

1,725,337 

1,842,844 

2,307,137 

1,357,827 

2,250,919 

2,035,307 


$18, 125 
19,359 
24,237 
14,264 
23, 646 
20, 490 


Per cent. 
11.3 
11.6 
4.1 
6.3 
16.1 
13.8 


1904 


Pounds. 

2,322,790 

1,883,409 

4, 474, 044 

1,872,606 

2,039,275 


$23,385 
18, 961 
34,974 
21,311 

623,208 


Per cent. 
5.7 


1899 


1905 


9.9 


1900 


1906 


8.4 


1901 


1907 


10.9 


1902 


1908 




1903 











" For 1907 and previous years : Movimento Commerciale del Regno d'ltalla. For 1908 : 
Statistica del Commercio Speciale di Importazione e di Esportazione del 1 Gennaio al 31 
Dicembre, 1908. 

>> Value for 1908 in Italian trade statistics subject to revision in 1909. 



THE EXPORTS OF LEMON, ORANGE, AND OTHER CITRUS-FRUIT PEEL. 

The exports of lemon, orange, and other citrus-fruit peel, green or 
dried, which are combined in Italian statistics, have increased from 
1,598,351 pounds in 1898 to 7,342,273 pounds in 1908. The propor- 

160 



RATES OF DUTY OW LEMONS AND THEIK BY-PRODUCTS. 



19 



tion of the total exports shipped to the United States in the last ten 
years has varied from 0.2 per cent, the lowest, in 1900, to ().2 per cent, 
the highest, in 1904. The heaviest importer is the United Kingdom. 
The following table shows the total exports from Italy of lemon, 
orange, and other citrus-fruit peel, green or dry, during the calendar 
years 1898 to 1908, inclusive, and the proportion of the total exported 
to the United States: 



Table XI. — Exports of lemon, orange, and other eitnis-friiit peel, green or dry, 
from Italy, J898 to 1908. inelusirc.^ 



Calendar year 

ended December 

31— 


Quantity. 


Value. 


Exports 

to United 

States. 


Calendar year 

ended December 

31- 


Quantity. 


Value. 


Exports 

to United 

States. 


1898 


Pounds. 

1,598,351 

6,184,406 

3,802,312 

4,498,531 

3,172,451 

2,798,106 


«34,981 
135,351 
83,217 
98,454 
69, 432 
61,239 


Per cent. 
0.6 
0.6 
0.2 
2.3 
2.6 
1.8 


1904.. 


Pounds. 

4,615,376 

3,737,496 

5,859,885 

5,475,179 

7,342,273 


8101,011 
81,798 
128,248 
119,829 

b 160,692 


Per cent. 
6 2 


1899 


1905 


1 9 


1900 


1906 

1907 

1908 


1 8 


1901. 


1 6 


1902 




1903. 











"For 1!»07 and previous years: Movimento Commerclale del RpRno d'ltalia. For 190S : 
Statistica del Commercio Speciale di Importazione e di Esportazione del 1 Gennaio al 31 
Dicembre, 1908. 

" Value for 1908 in Italian trade statistics subject to revision in 1909. 

A glance at the figures shown in the foregoing tables brings out 
clearly that the two most important items of the Italian lemon industry, 
namely, the export of fresh fruits and citrate of lime, have increased 
steadily in the last ten years. The essential-oil business has re- 
mained nearly stationary, the ex]3orts of concentrated lemon and citron 
juice have decreased, the exports of raw juice have not varied widely, 
while the exports of citrus-fruit peel have shown wide variation and 
on the whole have increased. 

The relation of the United States to the Italian lemon industry is 
brought out in the figures. Over one-third of the fresh fruit has 
recently been shipped to the United States, about one-third of the 
citrate of lime, and one-third, more or less, of the essential oils. 

THE RATES OF DUTY ON LEMONS AND THEIR BY-PRODUCTS 
ENTERING THE UNITED STATES. 

Under the tariff act of 1897 the rate of duty on lemons entering 
the United States is 1 cent per pound. Under the reciprocity treaty 
with Cuba, December, 1903, the tariff was made 1 cent per pound, 
less 20 per cent on fruit from that country. The tariff on citric 
acid is 7 cents per pound, the imports of which in 1908 were 171,795.6 
pounds, valued at $62,804. Citrate of lime and lemon oil are entered 
free of duty. There is no duty on lemon and orange peel not pre- 
pared, but there is a duty of 2 cents per pound on similar material 
preserved, candied, or dried, the imports of which in 1908 were 
613,834.5 pounds, valued at $40,342. 

160 



20 ITALIAN LEMONS AND THEIR BY-PRODUCTS. 

THE SEASON OF LEMON RIPENING IN ITALY. 

There is a wide variation in the season of ripening of the lemons 
of Italy and an equally wide variation in the character of the fruit 
from different sections, as well as in the fruit that is harvested at 
different periods of the year in the same section. 

The lemon season is considered to begin on October 1 in Italy 
and ends on September 31 following. The earliest fruit ripens in 
the Syracuse district, where the first picking is made from October 
1 to 15. The harvesting in the Catania and in the Messina districts 
begins about ten days later than in Syracuse. The Palermo harvest 
commences from December 1 to January 1, and occasionally by 
November 1. The soil is heavier in this district and the fruit can be 
held on the trees longer than in other districts. The fruit on the Sor- 
rentine peninsula, including the Amalfi coast, is the latest to ripen, 
the harvest beginning about February 1. There is also a summer 
crop of lemons in the Messina and Catania districts, called the " Ver- 
delli "' lemon. The methods of producing this crop will be described 
later. 

The harvesting season in each district covers a j^eriod of seven to 
ten months, more or less, depending on its character. The heaviest 
yields of each locality usually occur during the second, third, and 
fourth months in the season, though in some regions, like Palermo, 
Avhere the altitude and soils are variable, the fruit may be harvested 
practically throughout the year. The fruit gathered in the first 
harvest in each section is somewhat inferior in keejjing quality, 
usually on account of its immaturity and irregularity in condition. 
The fruit harvested in December and January is supposed to have 
the best keeping quality, and considerable fruit was stored before the 
earthquake in the Messina district in cellars for shipment in March 
or April to European markets, especially to Russia, Austria, Norway, 
and Sweden. Practically no stored fruit is shipped to the United 
States, though small quantities are sometimes sent to Canada. The 
fruit harvested in October and during the period from May to 
September, inclusive, is practically all used for export. That har- 
vested from November to April, inclusive, is used principally in the 
manufacture of by-products, with some of it entering the export trade 
as fresh fruit. In the Palermo district the heaviest exports to all 
countries occur from March to July, in the Messina and Catania dis- 
tricts from November to February, and on the Sorrentine peninsula 
from June to September. 

160 



CHARACTER OF LEMONS EXPORTED. 21 

THE CHAKACTER OF THE LEMONS IN DIFFERENT REGIONS OF 

ITALY. 

There is a wide variation in the character of the fruit grown on 
different soils and in different regions. The lemons produced on the 
lighter soils are rougher in texture and poorer in quality than the 
lemons from the heavier lands. They ripen earlier and are said to 
have poorer keeping" qualities. The soil along the eastern coast is 
generally gravelly and light in texture, except in the upper valleys 
between Messina and Giarri. Only a small proportion of the fruit 
harvested near this coast, that cut in October, and the Verdellis are 
exported; the rest of it is converted into by-products. On the other 
hand, from 80 to 90 jjer cent of the firm, finer textured fruit in the 
upland valleys on the same coast is generally used for exjoort. There 
is often a difference of 50 to 75 cents a thousand in the price paid for 
the upland or heavier land lemons in comparison with the fruit 
grown on the lighter soils near the coast. The fruit grown on the 
north coast of Sicily enters largely into the export trade. Probably 
as much as 90 per cent of the lemons of the Palermo district is ex- 
ported, two-thirds of the exported fruit going to America. Of the 
total exports from the Messina district less than one-half is usually 
sent to America, the rest of the fruit going to European markets, 
especially German}-, Russia, Austria, Norway, and Sweden, with 
lesser quantities to Australia and Canada. The fruit in the Palermo 
district is smaller and better in texture than the lemons from Mes- 
sina. While the crop at Messina averages two-thirds of the 300 lemon 
per box size, not over one-third is usually of that size in the Palermo 
district, the 360 size predominating in the latter section. 

THE CHARACTER OF THE LEMONS EXPORTED TO DIFFERENT 

MARKETS. 

Of the lemons exported to the United States, a large proportion 
are of the highest grades, that is, the finest in texture and free from 
blemishes. Of the fine-textured lemons the sizes packing 300 and 
360 to the box are shipped largely to the United States, the 300 size 
predominating in the shipments to the northern markets and the 
360 size in the exports to the southern districts. The largest lemons, 
the 200 size, predominate in the shipments to England. The English 
markets receive large quantities of the coarser grades of fruit. The 
German markets take a large lemon, but smaller than England. 
France takes a lemon medium to small in size, similar to the United 
States, and uses a good deal of coarse fruit, while a 330 size is fre- 
quentl}'^ sent to Russian markets, this size including a mixture of 

160 



22 ITALIAN LEMONS AND THEIR BY-PRODUCTS. 

300 and 360 lemons. The size of fruit shipped to a country depends 
somewhat on the form of the duty existing in that country. Where 
the duty is based on weight, the medium to small sizes are generally 
exported; where it is based on the number of lemons the large sizes 
are exported. 

TERMS APPLIED TO LEMONS RIPENING AT DIFFERENT PERIODS. 

riiere are several terms applied to the lemons that ripen at dif- 
ferent periods in Italy, though the terms are not always applied con- 
sistently to the same kind of fruit. The lemon trees bloom normally 
in April and May in southern Italy. There may be more or less 
blossoming through the year, and the terms are usually applied to the 
fruit that results from the blossoms that appear in different seasons. 

The term " Limoni '' is applied to the main crop of fruit maturing 
from the normal flowers of the preceding season. 

The term " Maggiolini," or locally " Bianchetti," is applied to the 
fruit that ripens in April and May and which is produced from 
irregular bloom following immediately after the normal blooming 
season. The Maggiolini lemons are somewhat light in color. They 
are high-grade fruits and are largely exported. 

The term " Bastardi '' is applied to large irregular lemons, usually 
flattened at the ends. The texture of the skin is medium in quality, 
and it adheres firmly to the flesh. The fruit is acid, generally seed- 
less, and is produced from blossoms that appear irregularly late in 
the season. The Bastardi lemons usually ripen in August. 

The term " Basterdoni " is often applied to the largest Bastardi 
lemons. They ripen in September. 

The term " Verdelli " is applied to a crop of lemons that ripens in 
the summer. The crop is produced artificially by withholding the 
water from the trees during June and July. About the first of 
August the trees are stimulated by a quick-acting fertilizer and an 
abundance of water. Two weeks later the trees begin to bloom and 
the fruit is harvested during the following summer. 

THE VERDELLI LEMONS. 

The Verdelli lemons are of enough importance to warrant a special 
description. In producing the crop of these lemons the object is to 
have the fruit mature in June or July, during the season of highest 
prices. They are usually grown not oftener than every other year 
in the same grove, as an annual production is said to be detrimental 
to the vitality of the tree, but on some of the lighter soils the Verdellis 
are produced annually. The Verdelli crop is produced principally in 
the region between Messina and Giardini, on the east coast of Sicily, 
though the system is practiced to a limited extent in the districts on 

160 



LEMON GKOVES OR GARDENS OF ITALY 23 

the northern coast. The crop of Sicily matures with the later part 
of the normal crop of the Sorrentine peninsula. 

METHOD OF PRODUCTION. 

On the heavier soils the earth is removed from the base of the tree 
about June 1 until the larger roots are exposed to a depth of a foot 
in a diameter of 6 to 10 feet. On the sandy soils the earth may not 
be removed from the roots. No water is applied to the trees for sixty 
days. At the end of the drying-down period the foliage is wilted, 
but is not supjiosed to have begun to shed. The aim then is to stimu- 
late the tree to the greatest possible extent. This is accomplished 
by adding a quick-acting fertilizer, like composted manure, or a 
chemical fertilizer, usually of sulphate of ammonia, at the rate of 
2 to 2^ pounds per tree. Occasionally nitrate of soda is used. The 
manure or fertilizer is mixed with the soil that was removed from 
the basin, or it is dug into the sandy soils where the basins are not 
made. The basins are then filled with the soil and the fertilizer, and 
water is applied around each tree once a week, or oftener if the soil 
absorbs it, for a period of two or three weeks. If the tree responds, 
the blossoms begin to appear with the new growth in two weeks, and 
the old foliage gradually drops off. 

It is easier to produce the Verdellis on the lighter soils and on 
young trees. Sometimes the trees, especially in the older groves, do 
not respond to the treatment. If the weather is cool and there is an 
abundance of dew following the blooming season, the young lemons 
may be killed by the wet, wilted blossoms which adhere to them for 
some time. Under these conditions the old blossoms are often re- 
moved by beating the branches with poles. It is quite common to pro- 
duce a Verdelli crop on a grove which failed to set a satisfactory crop 
in the spring. 

THE LEMON GROVES OR GARDENS OE ITALY. 

The lemon gardens of Italy are variable in size. The majority 
contain not more than a few trees or a few acres each at most. There 
are some groves of several hundred acres each in the territory betweeji 
Messina and Catania and in the Palermo district, a few of the largest 
plantings amounting to 1,500 to 2,000 acres. The larger groves are 
usually under the direct management of the owners, while the smaller 
ones may be worked by the owners or by tenants who lease them from 
the owners or from one who already holds a lease. 

The trees in the gardens on the Sorrentine peninsula, and to a 
lesser extent in other sections, a;re frequently planted irregularly, 
without reference to their position in rows or to the distance apart. 
This is especially true of many of the gardens in the rough lava beds 
on the slopes of Etna, in the Catania district, where the lemon trees 

160 



24 ITALIAN LEMONS AND THEIR BY-PRODUCTS, 

are often planted in small walled-up pockets containing a dozen or 
more trees. In other sections where the areas of adaptable land are 
larger the trees are planted with regularity. There is a wide varia- 
tion in the distance apart of planting the trees. In Sicily and in 
Calabria they vary from 12 to 18 feet apart each way; on the Sorren- 
tine peninsula and in the vicinity of Naples, from 8 to 12 feet, and in 
the districts farther north the trees are planted even closer together. 
The yield of fruit also varies widely. In the well-cared-for irrigated 
groves of Sicily the trees bear from 800 to 1,200 lemons each, and 
sometimes an unusually well-handled grove produces from 1,200 to 
2,000 lemons per tree. On the Sorrentine peninsula, where there is 
a short water supply and where the trees are planted closer together 
and are smaller, the average is not over 400 lemons per tree, while the 
yields are still smaller in the gardens farther north. 

HANDLING THE LEMON GARDEN. 
PROPAGATION. 

There are no extensive nurseries in Italy where lemon trees are 
grown as they are in the United States. The stocks of bitter orange 
{Citrus higaradia) are usually grown by the owners in small seed 
beds under the bearing lemon trees. The bitter orange grows wild 
in Sicily and in the mountains of Calabria, and is now used univer- 
sally as a stock on account of its resistance to the gum disease, which 
devastated the groves of Sicily about thirty years ago, when the trees 
were propagated on lemon stocks. 

The orange seeds are sown in the spring in a well-prepared bed, 
and the seedlings are usually transplanted when a year old at a 
distance apart of 10 inches or a foot in small clumps under the bear- 
ing trees or in distinct areas. When the trees reach a diameter of 
1 to 2 inches and a height of 5 to G feet they are transplanted to the 
garden or grove. They may or may not have been budded or grafted 
with the desired type of lemon before transplanting. The lemon 
bad is usually inserted from 2 to 3 feet from the ground and the top 
of the lemon tree is started from 4 to 6 feet from the ground. As 
the trees grow older the lower shaded branches die and, like the 
apple trees of the eastern United States, the main branches lose the 
lower bearing wood and the tree becomes increasingly high headed 
and spreading. In many of the old groves in Sicily the lowest fruit- 
bearing branches are from 6 to 10 feet from tiie ground. A high- 
headed grove is shown in Plate II, figure 1, while a low-headed lemon 
grove in California is shown in Plate II, figure 2, for comparison. 
Many of the closely planted lemon trees are irregular in form in both 
trunk and top, the trunks of many of the trees assuming a crooked, 
almost tortuous, outline. 

160 



HANDLING THE LEMON GARDEN. 25 

While the lemon trees are young it is a common practice to grow 
cereals or vegetables between the rows. This crop may be grown 
by the owner or by the tenant, or the land may be sublet to a second 
or third party for this purpose. 

PRUNING. 

The lemon trees of Italy are not pruned systematically as they 
are in California. Pruning in Sicily means the cutting out of 
dead wood and the shortening of the vigorous suckers every year 
or two, and the opening of the top when the tree becomes dense. 
The object of pruning is similar to the general practice of pruning 
orange trees in California, though much more roughly done; an 
ax is often used in cutting out the wood. No system of pruning 
has been developed the purpose of which is to hold the tree low 
headed, to modify the density of the tree, to stimulate the produc- 
tion of new bearing wood, or to modify the growth of the bearing 
wood in different parts of the tree. The growers generally believe 
that the low, dense-headed tree produces a tender, poor-keeping lemon 
and that the scale insects and diseases are much less serious in the 
trees with the high, open, spreading form which admits the air and 
sunlight to the greatest extent. 

TILLAGE. 

The tillage of the Italian lemon groves is practically all done by 
hand labor; occasionally it may be done in the larger groves with 
oxen and a primitive one-handled plow, though plowing in the 
lemon groves in Italy is a rare operation. The land is generally 
turned over from 5 to 10 inches deep with a short, heavy hoe twice 
a year, in February or March and again in September, and twice 
lightly, 3 inches or more deep, in May or June and in November, 
to turn under the weeds. The relation of tillage to the conservation 
of moisture and to the liberation of plant food is not understood. 

FERTILIZING. 

The principal fertilizer used in the lemon groves is composted 
sheep, goat, or cow manure. Chemical fertilizers have come into 
use to a limited extent in recent years. Sulphate of ammonia is the 
principal source of nitrogen, with nitrate of soda used to a less 
extent; sulphate of potash and ashes are used chiefly for potash; 
and bone meal, slag, and ground rock are among the sources of 
phosphoric acid. The commercial fertilizers have been experimented 
with in recent years in connection with cover crops and with manure. 
Several factories have been organized in Sicily for the manufacture 
of commercial fertilizers. 

There is no definite system of fertilizing used by the Italian lemon 
growers. There seems to be the same lack of exact knowledge 

160 



26 ITALIAN LEMONS AND THEIR BY-PRODUCTS. 

among- the growers as to the fertilizer requirements of the trees as 
there is among the lemon growers of the United States. There 
is no agreement as to the kind of fertilizers or the quantity to use, or 
the time or method of application. The fertilizer that is advocated 
most plausibly is likely to be used most generally, and different 
growers using different kinds of fertilizers are likely to get equally 
good results if the land is kept in good physical condition. All 
are agreed that the trees need to be fed liberally, though they are 
not fertilized as regularly or to the extent practiced by the growers 
of California. 

There is a general agreement among the growers that the physical 
qualities of the soil must be maintained by the frequent use of manure 
or by turning under a cover crop of weeds. As in California, some 
of the growers have an impression that stable manure makes the 
fruit coarse in texture and of poorer keeping quality. The manure 
is applied generally in the spring, but sometimes in the fall. It is 
dug into the irrigating basin around the tree or in the bottom of 
the irrigating furrows. In some groves the manure is applied in 
the basin around the tree every other year, and, in the years between, 
farther away from the tree in the bottom of deep furrows, in order to 
reach the fine, distant feeding roots. It is not practicable to discuss 
the fertilizing question further, as there is an endless variation in the 
methods of application and in the quantities of manure and commer- 
cial fertilizer in use. The variation in the quantity of manure per 
tree will run from 40 to 150 pounds, and in chemical fertilizer from 
2 to 10 pounds, depending on the nature of the fertilizer, the con- 
dition of the trees, and the general practice of the grower. 

IRRIGATION. 

Irrigation is practiced more or less in most of the lemon-producing 
sections of Italy. There is said to be an abundance of water in 
many parts of Sicil}^, but no comprehensive system of water develop- 
ment or of commercial water management, such as the California 
citrus-fruit growers have developed, has been attempted in Italy. 
Water is therefore likely to be scarce in dry seasons. In the fall 
of 1908, following a prolonged drought, the groves on the Sorrentine 
peninsula and in many parts of Sicily were suffering from lack of 
water. The landowner may lead the water from the mountains 
in terra-cotta pipes to reservoirs or wells on his place, or the water 
may be distributed directly from the mountain supplies to the groves. 
The excess water not needed by the large landowner is sometimes dis- 
tributed in canals to tenants or independent landowners who pur- 
chase the land and a right to the water from him. In other sections 
the water may be pumped by the grower from dug wells located on 
the place. The water is sometimes raised in bucket pumps driven 

160 



HANDLING THE LEMON GARDEN. 27 

by steam power, but more often by oxen operating a windlass. It 
may be distributed directly from the pump to the land or pumped 
first to a reservoir and distributed later by gravity flow. 

The water is distributed in the groves in a variety of ways. Usu- 
ally there are brick or terra-cotta tile ditches in which the water is 
carried to the heads of the rows. A few cement ditches, similar to 
those used in the groves in southern California, have been constructed 
in recent years. If the land is sloping, a main furrow is run between 
the rows at right angles to the ditches mentioned. The water is run 
from the ditch into this furrow and is led out to a square basin con- 
structed around each tree or around two trees, or to short side furrows 
in place of the basins under tlie trees. The basins are shown plainlj^ 
in Plate II, figure 1. The method of distributing the water in the 
grove depends on the nature of the land, its contour, and on the 
supply of water. The basin s^^stem of irrigation is used when the 
water supply is comparatively abundant. The furrow method is more 
economical of water. The distributing furrows are made by hand or 
occasionally with a plow after the spring cultivation, and the basins 
are formed by banking up the earth, as shown in the illustration 
(PI. II, fig. 1). In some sections where the winter rainfall is excess- 
ive the basins and ditches are reshaped in the fall to carry off the 
excess of water not absorbed by the ground. 

The irrigating season begins in Italy in April or May and ends in 
vSeptember or October, depending on the ending and the beginning of 
the rainy seasons. The rainfall in Sicily is more abundant than in 
southern California, the annual rainfall in the Messina district for 
ten years past, according to data gathered by the late Doctor Cheney, 
amounting to 30 to 40 inches. 

Cultivation, however, is not practiced in Italy to conserve moisture. 
The land is not hoed after each irrigation, and the loss of water from 
evaporation is large. The bearing trees are flooded every Aveek or 
two on the sandy soils, and every two or three weeks on the heavier 
land. On the heavier soils around Palermo some of the growers 
irrigate the trees only when the foliage begins to wilt. Under such 
conditions the trees may not be irrigated oftener than three times 
during the season. 

PROTECTION AGAINST FROST. 

Occasionally the Italian lemon crop is badly injured by frost, 
especially when the trees are in bloom in April or May. The tem- 
perature on the mainland on the Sorrentine peninsula generally 
drops below freezing every winter, and it often freezes in Sicily. In 
the former section an elaborate system of trellises is built over many 
of the groves, and mats of straw or of fine chestnut twigs are used 
to cover the trellises from November to April or May, when the mats 

160 



28 



ITALIAN LEMONS AND THEIR BY-PEODUCTS. 



are removed. Occasionally they are rolled up and are left on the trel- 
lises during the summer. On the Amalfi coast, where the lemons are 
grown on terraces one above the other, the trees on each terrace are 
covered with a trellis from 8 to 10 feet in height, as shown in figure 2. 
The new wood is not allowed to grow above the trellis, but the fine 
wood and smaller suckers are tied to it once a year. The strong- 
growing suckers and the excess of wood are pruned off. The tree 
assumes a fiat, umbrella shape, as shown in figure 3, and the lemons 
hang down and are largely picked from beneath the trellis. This 
form of tree training jM^oducos a ]")artial shade, and the lemons grow- 




FiG. 2. — A trellis over a lemon grove. Walnut trees are growing through the trellis. 
Straw mats are fastened to the trellis for protection from frost from November until 
April or May. 

ing in it are comparatively fine and smooth in texture. As the trees 
bloom late in the spring, the fruit matures largely in the summer 
months. The fruits known in the market as the " Sorrento " or the 
" Majori " lemons are grown under this system. No systematic at- 
tempt is made to protect the groves against frost by the use of fires or 
smudges. 

HANDLING THE LEMON CROP. 



SELLING THE FRUIT. 



There are several methods of selling the lemon crop in Ital}'. Prac- 
tically none of the fruit is exported by the grower except occasionally 

160 



HANDLING THE LEMON CROP. 



29 



in the case of l;;rge, experienced producers. There are no cooperative 
handling or marketing agencies similar to the marketing organiza- 
tions that have been formed by the California lemon producers. The 
grower sells his fruit usually through a broker to the exporter or to 
the manufacturer of by-products. The broker acts as an agent for 
both parties in the final settlement of the transaction, often shipping 
the fruit for the grower, receiving the money, and depositing it or 
using it in purchases for the grower, as there are few business trans- 
actions between tlie jiroducer and the Italian business man, on account 
of the bargaining that must be done before a sale of fruit is made. 







Fig. :'.. — Lemon tn 



;r(>\vin.L; under a trellis, showing the flat, umbrella furm of the trees 
caused by tying down their branches. 



The lemon qvo\) may be sold by the grove as a whole for the season, 
the purchaser taking all the fruit, or each picking may be sold sep- 
arately by the thousand lemons, a thousand, as understood in the Ital- 
ian industry, meaning 1,040 lemons, weighing 120 kilos, or about 260 
pounds. In the by-product districts of Sj^racuse, Messina, and Ca- 
tania the crop is generally sold as a whole for the season or, to a lesser 
extent, at an agreed price per thousand lemons for the crop of the 
season. In the upper valley or highland regions of the same dis- 
tricts, where the lemons are finer in grade and better for export, the 
fruit is usually sold by the thousand lemons at each picking. In the 
Palermo district the fruit is generally sold by the thousand at each 

160 



30 ITALIAN LEMONS AND THEIR BY-PRODUCTS. 

picking or, to a less extent, by the thousand for the season, or as a 
whole crop on the trees. The buyer usually picks the fruit when it 
is sold by the season. The grower usually picks it when sold at each 
picking. In the Messina district considerable fruit is brought to the 
city by the growers to be sold there either through a broker or directly 
to an exporter or manufacturer. The price paid the grower for the 
fruit has varied from $1.50 to $3.50 i^er thousand in the last few 
years. 

The handling of the lemon crop of Italy previous to the season of 
1908 was based on a system of money advances extending from 
the exporter of the by-product or the fresh-fruit handler down 
through the various ])arties through Avhose hands the fruit or by- 
product jjassed until it reached the producer. The advances were 
made before the fruit was harvested, usually at the time of closing a 
contract between the j^arties having to do with the product in ques- 
tion, to defra}?^ the operating expenses of the different parties. Tlie 
system had grown to such an extent that each party in a series of 
transactions became a banker for the next lower party depending on 
him financially. An attempt was made to abandon the system before 
the season of 1908 by the exporters of by-products, with the result 
that the lemon trade was in an uncertain and demoralized condition 
Avhen these observations were made in September. Contracts for 
by-products and for fresh fruit had not been made with the pro- 
ducers at that time on account of the uncertain market conditions in 
foreign countries, and at least a year's supply of citrate of lime that 
had been bought at high prices was on hand in the Messina district. 
Many of the producers who previously had made contracts earlier in 
the season and had received an advance on the contract were in need 
of financial assistance at that time. The citrate of lime in the Mes- 
sina district is said to have been destroyed by the earthquake. 

METHODS USED IN THE GARDENS. 

On account of the broad-spreading, high-headed trees it is neces- 
sary to use ladders in picking the lemons. The fruit is placed in 
l^addad baskets. From the picking baskets the fruit may be placed 
in larger padded baskets, in which it may be carried out of the grove 
to the packing house. On the Amalfi coast it is common to see 
women carrying the baskets of lemons from the groves to the packing 
houses, often a distance of several miles. 

If to be used for by-products, the lemons are pulled from the trees. 
If the fruit is to be used for export or for export and by-products, 
the picker, generally a man, breaks off the stem with the thumb and 
finger, leaving a stem attached to the fruit an inch or more in length. 
For export a man can pick about 5,000 lemons a day ; for by-products, 
from 8.000 to 12,000. The fruit is picked by size, as in California. 

160 



HANDLING THE LEMON CROP. 31 

If the fruit is to be used in a by-i3roduct factory, it is drawn there in 
bags or in baskets loaded into donkey or ox carts. 

The fruit that is used both for ex^Dort and for by-products may be 
taken to a packing house on the phice, where the stems are cut close with 
shears by either men or women. It is then roughly graded by women 
into export and by-product fruit, the rough lemons and low grades 
going for the latter purpose. Sometimes, as shown in the picking 
scene in Plate III, figure 1, the stem clipping and grading is done in 
the grove. In this case the lemons are piled on straw, the stems are 
cut short, and the fruit is roughly graded, after which the export 
fruit is delivered to the packing house on the place or, if near by, 
to the packing house of the exporter. On the Amalfi coast the lemons 
are often drawn in hand carts from the groves to the packing houses. 
The women carry the lemons out of the high groves in covered 
baskets to the carts and then draw^ them to the packing houses. When 
the fruit is packed on the place it is allowed to wilt for two or three 
days or longer, after wdiich the lemons are wrapped, generally by 
the w^omen who grade them. The packing is done by men. The 
boxes are then delivered to the packing house of the exporter, where 
the fruit is always regraded before shipping. 

METHODS USED IN THE PACKING HOUSES. 

The handling of the fruit after it reaches the packing house is 
simpler in some ways than the American method of lemon handling. 
The sweating or coloring of the lemons is not practiced, and none of 
the fruit is washed. The lemons are comparatively clean as they 
come from the tree. The fruit hangs too far from the ground to be 
affected with brown-rot, if the disease exists in Italy, and the lemons 
are not covered with the dust arising from cultivation and from a 
loose soil, as the California fruit is likely to be. If the lemons are 
dirty, they are sent to the by-product factory. The fact that the ex- 
ported lemons are not washed probably adds to the keeping quality 
of the fruit after it reaches the market. 

Comparatively few of the Italian lemons are stored. The bulk of 
the fruit is shipped soon after picking, only the best grades entering 
the export trade to the United States. There may be from three to 
five grades selected for export to different countries. The tree-ripe 
lemons are shipped to other countries or are used in making by- 
products. The quick shipment of the fruit that corresponds only to 
the silver-green or the light-yellow^ lemons of California probably 
adds to the keeping quality of the Italian lemons. The dark-green, 
as well as the tree-ripe fruit, is not considered of good enough keep- 
ing quality to be shipped to the United States. 

The methods of grading and packing Italian lemons are more com- 
plicated than the American methods. If the fruit has not already 
1587— Bull. 160—09 3 



32 ITALIAN LEMONS AND THEIR BY-PRODUCTS. 

been wilted in the garden, the lemons are generally allowed to stand 
a few da3^s on arrival in the house, either in the packages or in piles 
on the floor. There are many differences in the details in handling 
the fruit in the packing houses. The packing-house operations are 
not systematized to the extent practiced in American houses. In a 
house in Palermo the lemons were in a pile on the floor 3 feet deep 
or more, probably containing a thousand boxes. The fruit had been 
roughly graded by the grower, but it was regraded by the exporter. 
The grading was done by women. Other women wrapped the fruit, 
twisting the wrapper at both ends of the lemon except the fruit for 
the top tiers of the box, which is wrai)ped after the American method. 
The wrapped lemons were then placed in baskets. The fruit was of 
the 300 and 300 sizes. The lemons of one size were then placed in 
the boxes by boys as rapidly as the men who do the packing could 
place them in position in the box. In the United States the packer 
sizes, wraps, and packs the fruit. In Italy the packer's work is con- 
cerned only with arranging the fruit in the box. A good workman 
will pack 70 boxes a day. 

The interior of a packing house in Catania is shown in Plate III, 
figure 2. The padded bins are used in grading, sizing, wrapping, 
and packing the fruit. The method of packing differs from that 
followed in America principally in the double twist on the wrapper 
and in the use of bright-colored pictures on the wrappers and often 
on the paper that is used in lining the boxes; also in the use of 
shredded paper, gold and silver colored tinsel, etc., for embellishing 
the package. There have been several sizes of boxes in use in tlie 
export trade, but an effort is being made to use for the United States 
boxes similar in size to the California box. 

In the Messina district considerable of the fruit of the November 
and December crop is stored in cellars for export to European mar- 
kets in the spring. The fruit is wrapped and packed in boxes before 
storage. When ready for export the decayed fruit is removed and 
the fruit is regraded and rewrapped. The losses that occur from 
blue mold are recognized by the shipper to be due principally to the 
rough handling of the fruit before it is stored ; an unwrapped lemon 
stored under these conditions would shrivel slightly and lose the 
fine texture of the skin. The very green fruit picked in October is 
not considered of good storing quality, as it may shrivel while in 
storage, while the fruit maturing in January and later loses in keep- 
ing quality as the harvesting season progresses. 

THE COST OF PRODUCING LEMONS IN ITALY. 

It is difficult to obtain accurate figures on the cost of producing a 
crop of lemons in Italy on account of the variable conditions under 
which the fruit is grown and the lack of mformation on the part of 

160 



COST OF PRODUCINa LEMONS TIST ITALY. 33 

the groAvers themselves. No attempt will be made in this publica- 
tion to give an itemized statement of cost. An observer may easily 
gain widely different impressions by questioning producers who 
work under different conditions and in different parts of the country. 
In the fall of 1908 the wages of labor used in the groves in different 
parts of Sicily and on the mainland varied from 40 to TO cents a day 
of ten hours. The usual price was about 50 cents a day; a higher 
figure w^as found only rarely. In the packing houses the men were 
paid from 50 to CO cents a day. A man with a team of oxen was paid 
$2 a day. The women were paid from 30 to 40 cents a day and occa- 
sionally as high as TO cents, and the boys from 20 to 30 cents. In 
some sections the daily wage includes a bottle of wine. Where this 
occurs the wine represents the equivalent of about 6 cents in the wage 
and is deducted from it. Previous to 1908 the wages were lower, 
but there is said to be a growing scarcity of labor in Italy on account 
of the heavy emigration and it was expected by all classes of business 
men that there would be a further advance in wages in the future. 

A fair estimate of the cost of producing a crop on a bearing grove, 
including cultivation, irrigation, fertilization, pruning, and other 
operations up to the time of picking, is from $25 to $60 per acre, 
though the latter figure is unusually high. This does not include 
taxes or interest on the investment. This estimate is based on the 
cost of producing the fruit in the larger, well-managed groves. 
The cost is less in the groves that are not so well managed. In 
one of the large groves in the Alcantara Valley, near Giardini, the 
cost of cultivation and pruning in 1908 was 10 cents a tree, fertiliz- 
ing 10 cents, and irrigation 2 cents, making a total of $25 per acre 
for 100 trees. This grove was representative of the better groves 
on the eastern coast of Sicily. The cost of production will prob- 
ably not equal more than one-half as much as the cost in the United 
States. 

The cost of handling the fruit from the tree to the point of ship- 
ment is equally difficult to estimate. It is fair to assume that the 
cost of the labor used in the different operations will not equal one- 
half the cost of similar labor in the United States. The investment 
in the equipment of a packing house is smaller than in California. 
These general statements are based on the comparative wages paid 
in the two countries- and not on the efficiency of the labor. The 
Italian lemon box costs about the same as the American box. The 
freight rate on lemons, per box, from Sicily to New York or Boston 
was Is. 3d., or 31 cents, in the fall of 1908. The box is estimated to 
weigh 82 pounds. 

160 



II.-THE BY-PRODUCTS OF THE LEMON IN ITALY. 

By K. M. Chace, Assistant Chief of the Dirision of Foods, Bureau of 

Chemistry. 



INTRODUCTION. 

The relative importance of the industry which has to do with the 
utilization of the by-products of lemon culture is controlled, as a 
whole or in any single district of Italy, by several well-defined factors. 
Of these, the quality of the fruit is of the greatest importance, for in 
regions where it is uniformly good the problem of the disposal of the 
few culls is solved by local consumption. In other regions, however, 
the nature of the fruit itself practically prohibits its exportation, and 
it is here that the so-called *■' by-products " become the source of the 
chief industry of the district. Where there is any question of the 
purpose to which the fruit is to be put, the anticipated profits will be 
the controlling factor and the relative price of citrate of lime and 
lemon oil will be compared with that of the fresh fruit. 

The price of labor and conditions of transportation are also im- 
portant minor factors, as it is manifestly less costly to sort and pack 
the fruit than to transform it into oil and citrate, but, on the other 
hand, it is less difficult to transi:)ort these final products than the orig- 
inal fruit, which requires such careful handling and is subject to 
decay. The financial condition of the operator is also a factor, for 
the by-products offer a more tempting field for speculation, citrate 
of lime keeping indefinitely, while large quantities of the oil remain 
over from crop to crop. Lastly, local custom plays a much more im- 
portant part than would be possible in this country. Changes in 
methods of operation are much more conservatively received, and the 
Avorking classes as a whole do not adapt themselves so readily to new 
tasks. 

GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION OF THE BY-PRODUCT INDUSTRY. 

In northern Italj^^ one or more of the factors mentioned render the 
production of by-products unprofitable and it is not until the south- 
ern part of the southernmost provinces of the mainland is reached 
that this branch of the industry begins to flourish. Across the 
straits of Messina in Sicily it reaches its zenith, and along the south- 
eastern coast of that island it is the principal resource of the people. 
160 35 



36 



ITALIAN LEMONS AND THEIR BY-PEODUCTS. 



In the province of Calabria another essential-oil industry shares 
the attention of growers and materiallj' lessens both the lemon cul- 
ture and the production of lemon oil ; the manufacture of citrate of 
lime, however, is rehitively increased, as it is also a by-product of 
bergamot culture. The world's supply of bergamot oil for the manu- 
facture of perfumes comes exclusively from this comparatively re- 
stricted region, so that much higher prices are obtained for it than 
for lemon oil, which has to compete with the output of Sicily. It has 
been estimated by competent Messinese brokers that onh^ a small per- 
centage (certainly less than 5 per cent) of the total lemon oil produc- 
tion comes from this reoion. 




^yrfAcuse" 



Fig. 4. — Map of Sicily, showing the regions where lemon by-products are prepared. 

The adjacent island of Sicily, separated from the mainland by only 
a few hundred yards at the nearest point, is the largest lemon-grow- 
ing region of the world. Here the lemon-producing belt lies along 
two sides of the triangular coast line, interrupted with few exceptions 
only in the spots where the hills advance into the sea. This belt is 
naturally divided into four parts, and one of these is best divided 
again in districting the island. A map of Sicily showing the by- 
product regions is shown in figure 4. 

THE INDUSTRY IN THE ETNA DISTRICT. 

The Etna district begins on the south at Catania, a city of con- 
siderable importance, second in size in Sicily, around it being clus- 
tered several important gardens from which arises considerable trade 
in both fresh fruit and by-products. The former is exported prin- 

160 



GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION OF BY-PRODUCT INDUSTRY. 37 

cipally to Austrian ports, while the by-products go to Messina for 
exportation. The city contains but one lemon-oil factory of con- 
siderable size, but many smaller ones are situated in the suburbs. 
These latter places are crowded into the narrow streets and alleys 
under the most sordid conditions, the fruit being prepared in the 
street and the oil extracted in the living rooms and stored in the 
sleeping quarters of the house. The only place given over exclusively 
to the manufacturing process is the room devoted to the citrate of 
lime, and even this often serves as a stable. These operators buy a 
few culls from day to day, every member of the family taking part 
in the work of converting them into the final products. 

In this district the next center farther north is Acireale, a small 
thriving city, the most important of the by-product industry in the 
Etna district. There are a dozen or more factories here, and it is 
also headquarters for the Essential Oil Producers' Association, an or- 
ganization of comparatively recent formation, the membership of 
which seems to be confined to producers in the Etna district. 

North of Acireale, 6 miles distant, is Giarre, with one factory of 
fair size and several of minor importance. About 2 miles nearer the 
foothills of Mount Etna, at the railroad station for Mascali, is a 
small village called Carrubba, Avhose inhabitants, men, women, and 
children, are employed in a group of large factories situated there. 
One of these factories is the largest and best equipped in Sicily, em- 
ploying at the height of the season over 300 hands, producing several 
hundred pounds of oil a day. Even here the advances which have 
been made do not seem to have changed the character of the methods 
emi3loyed, the improvements often seeming more apparent than real, 
and being certainly greatly emphasized by the crude conditions sur- 
rounding them. 

Mechanical carriers are used for conveying the fruit from one part 
of the factory to the other and for carrying off the waste products, 
but no devices for halving the lemons or removing the pulp from 
them have been attempted. A battery of machines for extracting the 
oil from the peel had, however, been installed, but later abandoned. 
It is not strange that the device was a failure, for the peel required 
the same preparation as in the present methods of handling, and 
each machine needed an attendant, who handled separately every 
half lemon rind. As the rate of production was not greatly in- 
creased, the apparent saving was the difference in cost between the 
hire of a boy or girl attendant and that of a man sponger minus the 
cost of power necessary to operate machines. After all, however, the 
place is exceedingly well equipped when compared with other Sicilian 
factories, having cement floors and tanks, an electric lighting plant, 
steam ovens for drying citrate of lime, and many other improvements 
not usually seen on the island. 

160 



38 ITALIAN LEMONS AND THEIR BY-PRODUCTS. 

The two neighboring factories are of the usual type, but well ar- 
ranged and roomy, employing about 50 hands each. They produce 
in the neighborhood of 100 pounds of oil daily. 

Several miles northwest of this point, on the first of the foothills 
of Mount Etna, is the town of Mascali, containing several small fac- 
tories of minor importance, drawing their fruit from the upland 
valleys of the vicinity. The other two centers in the district are 
Fiumefreddo and Giardini. The former contains several factories 
of a daily capacity of 50 to 100 pounds of oil; the latter, one large 
factory and several very small ones; there being in addition several 
small places between the two towns. Giardini is the northern limit 
of the district and draws its supplies from the south, being cut off 
from the Messina district on the north by a steep range of hills, over 
which hauling is difficult even on the fine military road which skirts 
the coast. Fiumefreddo is 6 or 7 miles farther south and is sur- 
rounded for miles on all sides by lemon gardens. The whole region 
from Catania to Giardini lies at the foot of Mount Etna, many of the 
fruit orchards being on its decomposed lava beds. 

Oranges are also grown in this district, but are as a rule farther 
inland in the foothills. Aderno, Paterno, and Bronte, situated well 
up on the slopes of Etna, have considerable of this trade, as has 
Francavilla, farther north, nearer Giardini, the large factory at the 
latter place producing considerable quantities of both sweet and bitter 
orange oil from the fruit grown here. 

The season begins in the Etna district in December and is prac- 
tically over by April 1, although a few small operators continue into 
May. As the growing of Verdelli lemons is less practiced in this 
region than in the Messina district or in j^arts of the north coast, the 
inducements for summer work are not the same. The output of the 
district is marketed at Messina, being shipped to that point by rail, 
the exportation of oil and citrate of lime from Catania l)eing less 
than the production of that city alone. 

THE INDUSTRY IX THE MESSINA DISTRICT. 

The Messina district, the second largest in Sicily, is jjractically a 
continuation of the Etna district on the south. The lemon-producing 
land lies along the coast, extending into the few valleys which run 
back between the hills as in that district. The soil, however, is prob- 
ably quite different, as it is much farther from Mount Etna, no lava 
streams having entered the section for many hundred years. 

The largest center at the southern end of the district is Santa 
Teresa, from which the oil of the neighboring town Roccalumera is 
also shipped. There are eight or more factories in the two places, 
one of which is considerably above the average size, employing a 
hundred hands or over, the others varying from those employing 

160 



GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION OF BY-PRODUCT INDUSTRY. 39 

less than a dozen to those which have upward of fifty. Northward 
toward Messina, the next center of importance is Scaletta Zanglea, 
where are located three or four factories of very small size. At the 
northern end of the district, from Galati to Messina, the coast belt 
is much narrower than toward the south; the towns here stretch 
continuously along the military road, there being scarcely a visible 
boundary between them. When riding along this road the whole 
region seems an extension of the city of Messina. 

The chief centers are Galati, Tremestieri, Mill, and Contesse, all 
small towns having direct railroad connections with the city. The 
factories are, taken as a whole, better equipped than elsewhere in the 
island. All are of moderate size, some employing less than twenty 
hands, while one, with over two hundred, is second or third in size 
in Sicily. This factory is one of the very feAV to produce concentrated 
oil by fractional distillation of the usual product. Owing to the 
size of the factories and the narrowness of the coast strip here, a 
large quantity of the fruit consumed is drawn from farther south, 
and during the bergamot season from Calabria, on the mainland. 

Messina itself is hemmed in on all sides by high hills upon which 
no lemons are grown; fruit in large quantities must therefore come 
from some little distance. For this reason there is but one factory 
of any considerable size in the city; it employs, however, over two 
hundred hands, being situated on the north side of the city in an 
isolated group of gardens. 

Messina, like Catania, contains many very small places where oil 
is made in the dwellings of the lower classes, the output in any single 
instance being small, but the total of some importance. There was 
also at one time a quantity of by-products produced here from 
the culls of stored fruit; this practice has, however, almost ceased 
at present, as storage fruit has given way before the Verdelli lemon. 

On the north coast, not far from Messina, are two centers of minor 
importance, Bauso and Rometta. There seems little reason for 
classing them with the remainder of the Messina district except for 
the fact that they employ methods of production similar to those 
used on the south coast, while the center nearest them on the north 
coast emj)loys a somewhat different process in obtaining oil. Un- 
doubtedly, however, as far as the oil is concerned its composition 
here is more nearly like that of the north coast, no matter what 
process is used in its production. The factories in these towns are 
quite small, especially at Rometta, Bauso containing one of the 
average size, employing nearly fifty hands. 

As in the Etna district, the produce of the entire Messina region 
is disposed of through Messina brokers. The season also is the same 
as in that district. 

160 



40 ITALIAN LEMONS AND THEIR BY-PRODUCTS. 

THE INDUSTRY IN THE PALERMO DISTRICT. 

Palermo, the third district of importance, is the most westerly 
of the five. As in the other north-coast regions, lemon cultiva- 
tion occurs in large isolated groups of orchards, with the exception 
of the Conco d"Oro, where the whole valle}' is given up to it. This 
valley is of exceptional fertility, and it is said that at one time 
considerable sugar cane was raised here. The fruit being above the 
average quality, the greater part of it is shipped fresh. The culls for 
by-products go both to Palermo and to the small city of Monreale, 
beautifully situated above Palermo in the hills. Here are some half 
dozen poorly equipped factories of small size, employing from a 
dozen to thirty hands each. 

Palermo itself is the largest city of Sicily and contains several 
important factories, situated largely in the suburbs; the output of 
oil is not, however, larger than that of some of the small towns of 
the south coast. Information about the factories here is much harder 
to obtain than in other parts of Sicily; there are at least six of 
average size, the city being free from factories of the smaller type 
such as are found in Catania and Messina. 

Toward the east, the principal center is Ficarazzi, where there 
are several factories, one of which may be said to be large. There 
are also other towns to the west of Palermo which contain manu- 
facturing plants, but they are small and relatively unimportant. 
At Partinico, on the Trapani railroad line, are two or three, at 
Carini one, and at Cinisi another; taking it all in all, they are the 
crudest of the island. 

While this district produces a large quantity of oil and citrate of 
lime, the industry is not so well developed as in the two districts 
already described, these commodities here being in every sense of 
the word by-products. 

The production of summer lemons is universal in this region and 
affects to a considerable extent the composition of the essential oil. 
This is probably due to admixture of oil produced from the Verdelli 
lemons left upon the trees until the following season. Ordinarily 
the amount thus produced is small; when, however, the price of 
summer fruit is low it is very often left unpicked until the following 
natural crop is gathered, when it is sorted out with the other culls. 
In some factories this fruit is discarded, no attempt being made to 
produce oil from it. In the majority of cases, however, it is worked 
up as usual. It would seem that the former is far the better policy, 
as the yield both of oil and of citrate of lime are extremely low, added 
to which is the further disadvantage of the inferiority of the result- 
ing oil. Where this fruit forms a considerable proportion of that 

160 



GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION OF BY-PRODUCT INDUSTRY. 41 

from which it is being produced the resulting product is not market- 
able except in admixtures with normal oil. 

The season begins here later than in any of the other districts, 
often two months later than at Syracuse, and extends later into the 
warm weather, the month of June often finding several factories still 
in operation. Although this district contains the largest seaport and 
city of commercial importance in Sicily in the city of Palermo, only 
a comparatively small quantity of the by-products is shipped from 
that point, this exportation going to England, that coming to the 
United States being confined to fresh fruit. 

THE INDUSTRY IN THE SYRACUSE DISTRICT. 

The fourth by-product district is on the opposite side of the island, 
southeast of Palermo, and is but slightly less important than that 
center. The Syracuse district differs in many ways from the others 
of Sicily ; the country not being mountainous, the fruit is cultivated 
farther inland than usual and the problem of irrigation is more 
difficult. Lemon culture is not the chief occupation here, for the 
country was one of the finest wheat-growing regions of ancient times, 
and at present besides this cereal both almonds and grapes are exten- 
sively cultivated. 

The climate is very mild, the gathering of lemons beginning several 
weeks earlier than in the other districts. October 15 to April 15 is 
a liberal estimate of the manufacturing season, while fifteen dnja 
might be cut from each end and more nearly represent the actual fact. 

The district contains several isolated centers of production, the 
gardens not being continuous, as in the lemon belt proper, but clus- 
tered in large groups about the several towns. Three of these centers 
are of considerable importance, the cities of Syracuse, Floridia, and 
Avola, all containing six or more factories and each employing 20 
hands or more. 

At Syracuse there are no factories on the island which forms the 
old city, all being on the mainland in the newer suburbs. Comparing 
favorably in size with the average factories in other districts, they 
are in equipment above those at Palermo, but not so well equipped as 
those near Messina. Floridia is some 12 miles inland from Syracuse, 
situated in a very fertile valley of lemon groves, the half dozen fac- 
tories here varying in size, two being of considerable importance; 
all are, however, devoid of mechanical improvements. The output 
of this town is carted to Syracuse, as it has no railroad connections. 

South of Syracuse city no lemons are grown until Avola, 15 miles 
distant, is reached. Here is situated another large group of or- 
chards; the factories, as usual clustered about the town itself, are 

160 



42 ITALIAN LEMONS AND THEIR BY-PEODUCTS. 

below the average size and have no special equipment. Some orange 
oil is prepared in this district and large quantities of peel are dried 
and sold for the preparation of the liqueur curacao. 

The other centers in this district are Augusta, with one factory 
of average size; Priolo, with two small places; and Melilli, with one. 
Augusta is 18 miles north of Syracuse, on the coast, and is the center 
of the salt industry ; Priolo is between Syracuse and Augusta, some 
miles from the railroad, while Melilli is farther inland, situated 
well up in the low hills. 

The lemon products of the district find their way to market 
through Messina, with which there is direct railroad connection. 

THE INDUSTRY IN THE NORTH-COAST TOWNS. 

The remaining district to be considered is the heterogeneous col- 
lection of towns on the north coast. Here, again, as in Palermo and 
Syracuse, the cultivation of the lemon takes place in isolated groups 
of orchards around the central towns, the country being very moun- 
tainous and having no cultivated strip of coast land, as on the south. 
The fruit is grown in the valleys between the spurs of hills, all of 
the large towns being near the Messina-Palermo railroad line, which 
winds along the seacoast. 

By far the most important center, in fact the only important one 
of this region, is Barcelona, a small inland city not far from the 
seaport of Milazzo. Here are some three factories, employing from 
30 to 50 hands each, and a few more of smaller size, all with- 
out mechanical equipment. The methods employed are, as has been 
stated, similar to those of the Palermo district, the old method of 
production being used and distilled oil manufactured from residues. 

The small city of Patti, the next largest by-product center, is west 
of Barcelona, 2 miles from the railroad station of the same name. 
There are but two factories here, both employing approximately 
30 hands and, as at Barcelona, producing considerable sweet and 
bitter orange oil. 

Farther west there are no other factories until Capo d'Orlando is 
reached, at wdiich place are several of small size, which is also the 
case at Santa Agata di Miletello. The factories in all of these places 
use the so-called new or two-piece method of manufacture, which is 
peculiar, inasmuch as they are situated between two larger districts 
using the other method. At Santa Agata di Miletello the factories 
do not produce citrate of lime, the lemon juice being concentrated in 
copper kettles and sold to liqueur and bitters manufacturers in 
northern Italy. 

The commerce of the north-coast towns, as far as lemon by-prod- 
ucts are concerned, is carried on through Messina, although there 
is a thriving local seaport town, Milazzo. AVhile the district covers 

160 



MANUFACTURE OF BY-PRODUCTS. 43 

a much greater territory than that covered by either the Palermo 
or Syracuse districts, it produces less oil and citrate than either. 
The season is more nearly like that of the Palermo district, although 
manufacturing begins somewhat earlier and ceases sooner than in 
that district. 

MANUFACTURE OF BY-PRODUCTS. 

There are two chief by-products of lemon culture — the essential 
oil of lemon and citrate of lime; besides these, lemon peel in brine 
and concentrated lemon juice are of lesser importance. Oil of lemon 
is used very largely for flavoring purposes. It finds application also 
in j^erfumes and to a limited extent in pharmaceutical preparations; 
the greater part of that imported into this country, however, is used 
in the preparation of the ordinary extract of lemon, well known to 
every housewife. Citrate of lime, or, more proj^erly, calcium citrate, 
is an intermediate jjroduct in the manufacture of citric acid. In the 
lemon juice itself the acid occurs in the free state, together with 
sugars and mucilaginous bodies. It is in order to free it from these 
that it is combined with lime, for the compound thus formed is insolu- 
ble and precipitates from the juice, being finally separated by filtra- 
tion. This product must then be again treated in order to free it 
from lime and obtain the citric acid once more in the free state. 
There are no factories in Sicily for this purpose, although the Italian 
Government was, before the recent earthquake, making efforts to 
establish a plant by subsidy. The product is now shipped to Ger- 
many, England, and the United States, where the lime salt is decom- 
posed wath sulphuric acid, filtered through boneblack, and crystallized 
from solution in water. The process is one of some difficulty, con- 
siderable loss arising from the decomposition of the citric acid by the 
sulphuric acid present. 

The salting of the lemon peel is usually confined to those districts 
of Sicily where the towns are upon the seacoast situated near slop- 
ing beaches, so that sea water is easily obtainable. It is not usually 
packed in the interior, although a few towns near Messina have some 
little trade in this line, the product being repacked in that city. Pro- 
ducers in Sicily claim that there is a demand for three separate kinds 
of stock ; first, that from which no oil has been removed ; second, that 
which contains approximately half the oil; and, lastly, a completely 
exhausted product. All classes are consumed in the bakers' and con- 
fectioners' trades. AMiere the rinds are to be used for packing, the 
lemons are divided lengthw^ise, the pulp removed in the usual way, 
and the peel packed by hand as firmly as possible in large hogsheads, 
which are afterwards filled with sea water and reenforced by the 
addition of salt. 

The production of concentrated juice is not extensive, the factories 
being small and the methods of evaporation extremely crude. In 

160 



44 ITALIAN LEMONS AND THEIR BY-PRODUCTS. 

those at Santa Agata di Miletello the juice is pressed from the pulp 
and filtered, as in the manufacture of citrate of lime, and then 
pumped into shallow tanks supported over a crude fireplace. Here 
evaporation takes place over a wood fire until the required consistency 
is obtained, this point being ascertained by cooling a portion of the 
juice and inserting a spindle. The final product, a very dark semi- 
sirup, of acid, bitter, and smoky taste, is sold to liqueur and bitters 
producers in northern Italy. Besides the tAvo factories at Santa 
Agata di Miletello, there are one or two on the Calabrian mainland. 
Altogether the industry is of minor importance. 

EQUIPMENT OF BY-PRODUCT FACTORIES. 

It has already been hinted that in the great majorit}^ of cases the 
factories in Sicily are very poorly, even crudely, equipped, the nature 
of the operations which take place requiring but very simple appa- 
ratus. In the preparation of oil, machinery is not used except in 
the few factories which are situated in Calabria. 

For the manufacture of citrate, a crusher, as shown in Plate IV, 
figure 1, a filtering device for juice and another for citrate, a pre- 
cipitating tank supplied with a heating coil, an oven or heating room, 
and a small juice pump only are necessary. This apparatus is usually 
arranged to fit into quarters originally intended for other purposes; 
the crusher and filter presses on substantial foundations near the room 
where the cutting of the fruit takes place, near the latter a juice tank 
and pump, while the precipitating tank is also near by, as the pump- 
ing is usually done by hand in the heating room wherever convenient. 

In many of the smaller factories a loft is floored off and the space 
thus provided used for extraction of the oil, the room often being 
scarcely 6 feet high in the center, dark, and ill ventilated. On the 
north coast, where the work takes place at night (from midnight to 8 
or 9 o'clock in the morning) , this place also serves as sleeping quarters 
for the sponge men. The custom of preparing the oil at night seems 
confined to the Palermo and north-coast towns. The explanation 
given for this method of operation is that the sunlight has a dele- 
terious effect upon the oil, but a more probable cause is the fact that 
the sponging operation can take place at night with less trouble than 
any of the other processes in by-product manufacture and that the 
same workmen can thereby work during both daylight and darkness. 

PREPARATION OF THE FRUIT. 

The preparation of the fruit differs somewhat in the different dis- 
tricts, and while the variation seems slight it undoubtedly affects the 
length of the operation and perhaps the quality of the oil produced. 
In the Syracuse, Etna, and Messina districts and in Patti and Santa 
Agata di Miletello, north-coast towns, a method known as the " tAvo 

160 



EXTEACTION OF THE ESSENTIAL OIL. 45 

piece " is used. In Palermo and Barcelona the process used is called 
" three piece," although some factories in the latter city use the other 
method. The difference between the two lies in the manner of re- 
moving the rind from the fruit. In the former the lemon is halved 
and the pulp removed from these halves; in the other the peel is 
pared off in three longitudinal strij^s. The three-piece method of 
preparing the fruit is shown in Plate V, figure 1. AAHien the fruit 
arrives at the factory it is dumped into large bins, around which sit 
the cutters, who divide the lemons in halves or pare them, according 
to the method used. An ordinary cheap kitchen paring knife is used 
for this purpose, the operators being women, girls, and boys on the 
south coast; on the north coast women and children are seldom em- 
plo^^ecl. The work is carried on very rapidly where the fruit is 
halved crosswise, the lemon being cut and tossed into the tub with a 
single motion of the arm. Where the peel is to be salted down, the 
fruit is divided from end to end, and the time consumed is relatively 
longer, as is also the case where it is pared. The next step in the 
process is naturally omitted where the latter method is used. The 
half lemons are thrown upon shallow troughs, on each side of w^iich 
stand the operators provided with baskets for holding the peel. The 
instrument used consists of a sharp, slightly concave disk firmly 
fastened on the end of a stout sickle-shaped Avire, provided at the 
opposite end with a wooden handle. The disk is skillfully slipped 
between the pulp and rind of the lemon, held in the left hand, and 
forced toward the end with a circular motion of both the instrument 
and fruit. When suiRciently far advanced, a quick jerk removes 
the pulp, the separation being complete and the rind unbroken. 

The operators are usually paid by the basket of resulting peel, the 
women making from 20 to 40 cents a day, wdiile the children, who do 
the cutting, rarely make over 15 cents, often as low as 5 cents. Where 
the lemons are pared the separation is much less complete, there 
being always considerable pulp left on the rinds and some little rind 
at the ends of the pared fruit. As a result of this, some little lemon 
juice becomes mixed with the extracted oil, and after the extraction 
of the oil from the peel the latter has to be mixed with the fruit pulp 
in order not to lose the considerable portion of the part of the fruit 
clinging to it. 

EXTRACTION OF THE ESSENTIAL OIL.' 

In both methods of operation the peel is thrown into large wicker 
baskets, which, Avhen full, are dipped into a reservoir of cold Avater 
and thoroughly shaken to remove the excess. This washing is said 

See also the article by the same author, entitled " The Manufacture of 
Flavoring Extracts," in the Yearbook of the Department of Agriculture for 
1908, pp. 333-342. 
160 



46 ITALIAN LEMONS AND THEIR BY-PRODUCTS. 

to wilt the rind and render a complete extraction of the oil possible. 
However this may be, it is certain that fruit treated in this manner 
and allowed to stand for several hours yields relatively more oil than 
that worked up immediately after separation from the pulp. At 
this stage, the pulp and peel having been separated, the former is sent 
to the crusher to be converted finally into citrate of lime, the latter 
to sjjonge men, who extract the oil. 

The extraction or sponging process is not essentially different with 
the different forms of peel, the operators sitting upon low stools with 
an earthenware bowl betAveen the feet, a pile of peel in front of them, 
and a basket for the exhausted material at one side. The bowl is 
about a foot in diameter, provided with a deep lip, directly beneath 
which is a small, round, concave depression which serves when the 
bowl is tilted forward, in pouring out its contents, to hold back the 
settlings of juice and precipitated matter. Across the top is placed 
a stick so notched as to fit tightly on the sides; resting upon it are 
the sponges, which differ somewhat according to the manner of pre- 
paring the peel. AVhere the fruit is cut crosswise, a large, fiat sponge 
is surmounted by a smaller concave one, shaped someAvhat like a 
brimless slouch hat, the half lemon being placed Avithin this sponge 
when pressed. When the lemon is cut in the other direction, a large, 
heavy sponge rests upon the flat one and the fruit is pressed, colored 
side down, into it. This method is also followed Avhere the rind has 
been pared from the fruit. With the first method the half rind is 
held in the right hand between the thumb and first two fingers and 
inserted in the wide aperture of the concave sponge, whereupon the 
latter is pressed upon Avith the left hand, the Aveight of the body 
being throAvn into the motion. The pressure is relicA^ed, the peel 
turned partly OA^er Avith the right hand, and the pressing repeated. 
The same operation is carried on once or tAvice more, the rind thus 
receiAdng three or four pressings. Where the concaA^e sponge is not 
used, the peel or slices are pressed face dowiiAvard on the other sponge 
Avith the right hand, the left being used to keep the sponge in place, 
the same amount of force and number of pressings being required in 
either case. 

The sponging process is somewhat A^aried where the three-piece 
method is used, oAving to the quantity of pulp left adhering to the 
rind. A shalloAv, glazed boAvl is placed upon the one ordinarily used 
and the notched stick fitted to it so that the mixture of juice and oil 
is received directly here. At the end of the operation the sponges 
are thoroughly squeezed out by hand and the lemon oil separated 
from the juice by tilting forward the glazed bowl over the other and 
violently bloAving the breath upon the surface of the mixture until 
the oil has been carried over into the loAver boAvl. In this operation 
some juice and residue are found mixed Avith the oil, and this is sep- 

160 



TEEATMENT OF THE RESIDUES. 



47 



arated finally in the larger bowl by carefully tilting forward and 
repeating the blowing operation. The small amount of juice and 
residue now present is caught by the depression in this bowl and the 
oil is received in a measuring bottle. The operation where the two- 
piece method is used is very similar; the oil and Avhat little moisture 
and residue are extracted are caught in the earthenware bowl and 
separated as indicated. 

The oil in either case is allowed to settle for twenty-four hours or 
longer, filtered through paper, and stored in large copper containers; 
that made by the three-piece method is said to keep longer without 
becomina- turliid. 



TREATMENT OF THE RESIDUES. 

The treatment of the residues resulting from both methods is dilTer- 
ent ; with the two-piece method they are passed thi-ough a conical 
cloth filter and the oil and 
water received in an earthen- 
ware bowl, Avhere they are 
separated in the usual way. 
The filter is tied at the top 
and placed under a hand 
press, where the last traces of 
oil and water are expressed. 
The residues from the three- 
piece process, which are rela- 
tively greater in amount than 
by the other method, are 
placed in small copper stills, 
diluted with water, and dis- 
tilled. The still is made in 
tAvo parts, the pot being about 
2 feet high, narrowing ab- 
ruptly to a 3-inch aperture at 
the top, ov-er which the con- 
densing part fits tightly, the 
joint being cemented each 
time with clay. The latter 
part is a basin, w^hose straight 
sides are continued a short dis- 
tance beyond the concave bot- 
tom, after which they converge similarly to the sides of a funnel. It 
is provided with two spouts, one of which enters under the bottom 
into what becomes the condensing chamber of the still; the other 
enters above and is used to draw olf the water placed in the basin 
in order to cool the vapor coming in contact wnth it during the dis- 
loST— Bnll. ino— 00 4 




Fig. 5.— a lemon-oil still usttd on residues, Palermo. 
The oil produced is Inferior to the hand-pressed 
product. 



48 ITALIAN LEMONS AND THEIR BY-PRODUCTS. 

tillation. The condensation is further aided by wrapping the other 
spout with rags, over which the attendant pours cold water from 
time to time. A still is shown in figure 5. 

The oil obtained by this process is water white, of disagreeable odor 
and abnormal chemical characteristics; having no sale in the pure 
state it is invariably mixed by either producer or broker with the 
hand-pressed product. The filtration method undoubtedlj^ gives the 
best results, for if the residues are treated immediately the resulting 
oil can scarcely be distinguished from the original. Distilled oil is 
produced only at Barcelona and Palermo; in all other districts the 
residues are filtered. 

MACHINE-MADE ESSENTIAL OIL. 

The manufacture of lemon oil by machine is confined to the main- 
land of Italy, in the province of Calabria. As has been said, large 
amounts of bergamot oil are made here, and it is with the machine 
used in this industry that lemon oil is produced. The bergamot is 
shaped more like an orange than a lemon, being nearly round, so 
that the apparatus has to be slightly modified in order to use it on 
the latter fruit. The modification consists in removing the flat disks 
and substituting concave ones for them. 

The machine itself, show^i in Plate VI, figure 1, consists of a stand 
supporting two upright arms united by a crossbeam at the top. On 
the inside of one of these uprights is hung a large cogged wooden 
fly wheel geared against a cylinder, the sides of which are upright 
spokes fitting into the cogs of the fly wheel. To the under side of 
this cylinder is bolted a corrugated disk, shown in Plate VI, figure 2, 
fitted so as to revolve above a like stationary one at the bottom of 
the machine. An arrangement for raising and lowering the upper 
disk is provided for by an arm fastened to the cylinder and extending 
over a crosspiece at the rear. This arm is so weighted as to regulate 
the pressure brought to bear upon the fruit which is placed between 
the upper and lower disks. When it is lowered, the upper disk is 
raised and the lemons, wdiich must be of uniform size, are placed 
Avithin. The lever is then raised, lowering the disk upon the fruit, 
and the outside fly wheel is turned by hand. After two minutes it 
is stopped and the fruit removed, each lemon being carefully wiped 
off with a sponge. The grated rind and oil are received in a large 
pan set beneath the machine and subsequently filtered through cloth 
filters, the residue being placed under hand presses to express the last 
traces of oil and moisture. 

Oil manufactured in this w^ay is not in the least inferior to the 
hand-pressed product and has the added advantage of a much richer 
color, being used chiefly for the purpose of bringing up the color of 
160 



CITRATE OF LIME. 49 

the latter. The machine is not used on lemons until after the close 
of the bergamot season, fruit ripening before that time being sold to 
Sicilian buyers. 

CITRATE OF LIME. 

After the pulp of the lemon has been removed from the rind it is 
conveyed to a crusher, sometimes power-driven, but in a vast majority 
of factories run by hand. A crushing machine is shown in Plate IV, 
figure 1. The ordinary type consists of a hopper leading into wooden 
rollers and a small chute for carrying off the crushed pulp, the whole 
being placed over, or very near, a juice tank, into which the drippings 
flow. The crushed pulp is shoveled into large, circular, straw filter- 
ing mats and pounded down firmly with wooden rams. These mats 
are closely woven of coarse straw and have a circular opening at the 
top ; after being filled they are placed one upon another in stacks of 
4 to 12 under hand presses of large size. The presses are set, often 
by the aid of a windlass, and the combined pressing and filtration 
proceeds until the flow of juice ceases, the presses being set down 
several times during the operation. A press and filtering mats are 
shown in Plate IV, figure 2. The juice is led into the juice tank, 
from whence it is pumped, usually by hand, into a large vat pro- 
vided with suitable heating arrangements consisting of direct fire, 
steam coil, or, in one or two instances, leading steam directly into the 
juice. In this tank the acidity of the juice is neutralized by means 
of lime water, the point of neutrality being ascertained by the use 
of litmus jjaper, and after heating for several hours the juice is run 
off into the filtering tank while still hot. The latter tank is pro- 
vided with a false bottom of wooden latticework, over which i?* 
spread a special filtering cloth ; the citrate of lime, which is deposited 
in a voluminous Avliite powder, is retained by this cloth, while the 
waste liquor runs through and is discarded. When this liquor has 
sufficiently drained off, the deposit is shoveled into a small filtering 
bag and placed in stacks beneath a small press, where the excess is 
further removed. It is usually readily removed from these sacks to 
iron pans in which it goes to the drying oven. This oven is a small 
room, ventilated at the top, around the sides of which are built tiers 
of iron frames for holding the pans. In the center of the room is a 
gigantic charcoal burner, which supplies the heat for the evaporation, 
from six to forty-eight hours' drying being necessary, depending 
upon its size. The thoroughly dried cake, containing over 60 per 
cent of citric acid, is broken into small pieces and j^acked in hogs- 
heads holding about 675 pounds each. An interior view of a by- 
product factory is shown in Plate V, figure 2. 

The method of disposing of this product is very similar to that 
used with essential oils; small or large lots are offered to brokerage 



50 ITALIAN LEMONS AND THEIR BY-PRODUCTS. 

firms, accompanied b}^ a certificate of analysis showing the actual con- 
tent of citric acid. Exportation is nearly always through one of these 
houses, and there seems to be little or no effort to market the output 
cooperatively. The product is purchased on the citric-acid content 
by the large chemical supply houses in Germany, England, and the 
United States. 

COST OF PRODUCTION OF BY-PRODUCTS. 

The quantity of the bj^-products obtained from a given number of 
fresh lemons will depend upon the quality of the fruit, the season of 
the year, the time which has elapsed between the gathering and 
working up, and the efficiency of the latter process. Wlien allowed 
to ripen upon the tree, the lemon loses a considerable part of its 
acidity and the oil is also less in quantity and of an inferior grade. 
\¥liere the fruit is broken or bruised in handling, the yield of oil is 
diminished, and this is also the case where a number of days are 
allowed to elapse between picking and working up. The content of 
citric acid is not lessened by these faults, however. On the average 
quality of fruit, 100 pounds of oil and 675 pounds of citrate of lime, 
containing 430 pounds of citric acid, can be produced from 100,000 
lemons. The average price for these substances varies from $80 to 
$100 for the oil and $75 to $95 for the citrate. At the time of writing, 
owing to the recent earthquake disaster in Sicih', the prices are firm 
and somewhat higher. 

The cost of production is very difficult to estimate and will, of 
course, vary in every locality and almost with every factor}^ In 
the consular reports of the late Doctor Chenej^ he estimates the aver- 
age value of lemons to the grower in Sicily at $150 per 100,000. The 
fruit going for by-products is the lowest grade, however, and will 
not average over $100 per 100,000, leaving a gross profit to the by- 
product producer of from $50 to $100. One sponge man can produce 
between 2 and 3 pounds of oil per day, for which he receives about 
30 cents, making the cost of extracting the oil from 100,000 lemons 
from $10 to $15. Other processes about the factory are nuich 
cheaper, and it would seem, at the usual wages of workmen, that 
$5 to $10 additional would be a liberal estimate for other expenses, 
leaving a profit of from $30 to $70 jointly on 100 pounds of oil and 
a pipe of citrate of lime. It is believed that the above estimates 
are very conservative and that the actual profits are considerably 
higher than the figures given. 

160 



PLATES. 



160 

51 



DESCRIPTION OF PLATES. 

Plate I. Lemon groves on the Amalfi coast. Fig. 1. — Terraces of lemon trees 
on the mountain side near Majori. Masonry walls are built to keep tbe 
land from sliding. Fig. 2. — Terraces of lemon trees rising from the sea. 
The larger trees are olives. There is a trellis over each terrace for frost 
protection. 

Plate II. An Italian and an American lemon grove compared. Fig. 1. — One 
of the better types of groves at Mascali, Sicily, showing the high-headed 
trees, a distributing furrow between the rows, and basins around the trees. 
Fig. 2. — A grove of low-headed trees in California. 

Plate III. A lemon-picking scene and a packing-house interior. Fig. 1. — Pick- 
ing and grading the fruit, Palermo. The lemons are being graded roughly 
for by-products and for export. Fig. 2. — Interior of a packing house at 
Catania, showing the padded bins used in grading and packing. 

Plate IV. Preparation of citrate of lime. Fig. 1. — A crushing machine. Mills 
are not used for extracting lemon juice in Sicily. Fig. 2. — A lemon-juice 
press. This press acts also as a filter. 

Plate V. Preparation of lemon oil. Fig. 1. — Paring lemons, 3-piece method, 
Palermo. This method is used only in the Palermo district and at Barce- 
lona. Fig. 2. — Interior of lemon by-product factory, Syracuse. This shows 
one of the few factories in Italy using mechanical devices in handling the 
fruit. 

Plate VI. Lemon-oil machinery. Fig. 1. — A lemon-oil machine used in Calabria. 
This machine is confined in its use to the Calabrian district, where it is 
also employed in the production of bergamot oil. Fig. 2. — Disks used in 
Calabrian machines. The surface of these disks is not unlike that of a burr 
mill. 
160 
52 



Bui. leO, Bureau of Plant Industry. U. S. Dept. of Agriculture. 



Plate I. 




Fig. 1.— Terraces on the Mountain Side. 







i 






^(!^|^ 



Fig. 2.— Terraces Rising from the Sea. 
LEMON GROVES ON THE AMALFI COAST, 



Bui. 160, Bureau of Plant Industry, U. S. Dept. of Agriculture. 



Plate II. 




Fig. 1 .— a Grove at Mascali, Sicily, Showing a Distributing Furrow and Basins 

around the trees. 




Fig. 2.— a Grove of Low-Headed Trees in California. 
AN ITALIAN AND AN AMERICAN LEMON GROVE COMPARED. 



Bui. 160, Bureau of Plant Industry, U. S. Dept, of Agriculture. 



Plate III. 




Fig. 1.— Picking and Grading the Fruit, Palermo. 




Fig. 2.— Interior of a Packing House, Catania. 
A LEMON-PICKING SCENE AND A PACKING-HOUSE INTERIOR. 



Bui. 160, Bureau of Plant Industry, U. S. Dept. of Agriculture. 



Plate IV. 





Bui. 160, Bureau of Plant Industry, U. S. Dept. of Agriculture. 



Plate V. 




Fig. 1.— Paring Lemons, 3-Piece Method, Palermo. 




Fig. 2.— Interior of Lemon By-Product Factory, Syracuse. 
PREPARATION OF LEMON OIL. 



Bui. 160, Bureau of Plant Industry, U. S. Dept. of Agriculture. 



Plate VI. 





INDEX. 

Page. 

Acid, citric, not manufactured in Italy 15, 43 

recovery from citrate of lime, process in Italy 43 

tariff rates, United States 19 

Ammonia sulphate as source of nitrogen for lemon fertilizing 23, 25 

Ashes, fertilizer for lemon gardens 25 

Barcelona, Sicily, lemon-oil factories 42 

Basin irrigation, lemon gardens, Italy ' 27 

Bastardi lemons, description 22 

Basterdoni lemons, description 22 

Bergamot, description and extraction of oil 48 

oil, manufacture, Calabria 3(5, 48 

world's supply from Calabria 36 

Bianchetti lemons, description 22 

Bone meal, fertilizer for lemon gardens, Italy 25 

By-products, lemon, cost of production in Italy 50 

exports from Italy 15-19 

factories, location and description 35-43, 44 

grades of fruit used in Italy 15, 21, 31, 39, 40 

in Italy, paper 35-50 

industry, Italy, geographical distribution 35-43 

manufacture and disposal in Italy 43-44 

quantity of fruit used in Italy 10 

tariff rates. United States 19 

Calabria, bergamot oil manufactm-e 36, 48 

lemon by-product industry 8, 15, 36, 48 

Calcium citrate. See Lime, citrate. 

Carrubba, lemon-oil factories 37 

Catania, lemon growing 8, 9, 20, 23 

oil factories 37 

Chace, E. M., paper entitled "The by-products of the lemon in Italy " 35-50 

Cheney, Dr. Arthur S., collection of statistics in Italy, 1908 10, 27, 50 

Citrate of lime. See Lime, citrate. 
Citric acid. See Acid, citric. 

Citron and lemon juice, concentrated, exports from Italy, 1898-1908 1 7-18 

raw, exports from Italy, 1898-1908 18 

Citrus bigaradia, use as stock for lemon grafting in Italy 24 

fruit by-products, tariff rates, United States 19 

peel, exports from Italy, 1898-1908 18-19 

preparation for by-product manufacture in Italy 44-45 

trees, Italy, number, estimate 7 

fruits, essential oils, exports from Italy, 1898-1908 16-17 

Conco d'Oro, lemon growing 9, 40 

160 53 



54 ITALIAN LEMONS AND THEIR BY-PRODUCTS. 

Page. 

Cost of producing lemons in Italy 32-33 

Earthquako, Messina, destruction of lemons and citrate of lime stored for shi])- 

ment 20, 30 

Etna district, lemon-oil factories, location and description 36-38 

Europe, imports of lemons from Italy by different countries, character of fruit. 21 
Exports, lemon by-products, from Italy, 1899-1908, 1894-1908, and 1900-1908. . 15-19 

lemons, from Italy, 1898-1908, percentage to United States 11 

principal sources 21 

Etna district, Italy, lemon by-product industry 36-38 

Factories, lemon by-product, Italy, equipment 44 

oil, Sicily, description and location 35-43, 44 

Fertilizers, commercial, introduction into Italian lemon gardens 25 

for Italian lemon gardens 23, 25-26 

Frost, protection of lemon trees in Italy 8, 27-28 

Fruit stored in Messina, destruction by earthquake, ] 908 20 

See also Citrus, Lemon, Orange, etc. 

Furrow irrigation, lemon gardens in Italy 27 

Gardens, lemon, care and management in Italy 24-30 

description, size, number of trees, and yield in Italy 8, 23-24 

Grading lemons, Italian methods 31-32 

Grafting lemons, Italian method 24 

Groves, lemon. See Gardens. 

Gum disease, resistance of bitter orange 24 

Harvesting lemons, Italy, seasons and methods 20, 30-31 

Imports, lemons, into United States, from Italy, 1898-1908, ports of entry and 

of export 11-13 

Insects, scale, control by pruning methods, Italy 25 

Introduction to paper on "The by-products of the lemon in Italy " 35 

' ■ The Italian lemon industry " 7 

IiTigation, lemon gardens, Italy 26-27 

Italy, by-products of the lemon, paper 35-50 

lemon industry, paper 7-33 

See also Lemons. 

Juice, lemon and citron, concentrated, exports from Italy, 1898-1908 17-18 

raw, exports from Italy, 1898-1908 18 

. concentrated, manufacture and use 42, 43-44 

Labor, co^t, lemon oil factories, Italy 44, 50 

lemon industry, Italy, scale of wages, men, women, and boys 33 

Lava beds. Mount Etna, lemon growing 8, 23 

Lemf)n and citron juice, concentrated, exports from Italy, 1898-1908 17-18 

raw, exports from Italy, 1898-1908 18 

by-products in Italy, paper 35-50 

See also By-products, 
crop, handling, selling, harvesting, sorting, packing, and shipping, 

Italy 28-32 

Italy, 1907, estimate ' 10 

gardens, Italy, fertilization, irrigation, pruning, etc 23-26 

growing, Italy, co.-t per acre, estimates 33 

propagation, pruning, tillage, irrigation, etc 24-30 

regions, Italy 7-10, 23 

industry, Italian, article by G. Harold Powell 7-33 

commercial importance ... 10-11 

extent and location 7-10 

160 



INDEX. 55 

Page. 

Lemon irrigation, Italian methods 26-27 

oil. See Oil, lemon. 

packing house methods, Italy 31-32 

peel, exports from Italy, 1898-1908 18-19 

salting 43 

pulp, use in manufacture of citrate of lime 46, 49-50 

residues, treatment 47^8 

shipping centers, Italy 10, 12-13, 20 

trees. See Trees. 

Lemons, Bastardi, description 22 

Basterdoni, description 22 

Bianchetti, description 22 

classification based on time of ripening 22 

cost of production in Italy 32-33 

domestic consumption, estimate 10 

exported to United States from Italy, superior grades 21, 31 

exports from Italy, 1898-1908, percentage to United States 11 

foreign, distribution in United States 13 

methods of handling in United States 13-15 

freight rates, Italy to United States 33 

grades sent to different markets 21, 31 

harvesting, seasons, and methods 20, 30-31 

imports into United States, with ports of entry and ports of export.. 11-13 

Italian, handling in the United States, buying and selling 13-15 

Italy, character of fruit exported to different markets 21-22 

grown in different localities 21 

fertilizing 25-26 

irrigation 26-27 

propagation 24-25 

protection against frost 27-28 

pruning 25 

season of ripening 20 

tillage 25 

Limoni, description 22 

Maggiolini 22 

packing in Italy, methods 31-32 

peeling for oil extraction, Italy, methods and cost 44 

picking in Italy, methods 30-31 

preparing for oil extraction, Italy 44-45 

price per thousand in the gardens, Italy 30 

ripening season, harvesting, and shipping in Italy 20 

selling the crop in Italy, methods 28-30 

standard weight per thousand 29 

tariff rates, United States 19 

terms applied to fruit ripening at different periods in Italy 22 

value to growers, Italy 30, 50 

Verdelli, description and methods of production 22-23 

Lime, citrate, exports from Italy, 1899-1908 15 

imports into United States, 1894-1908 16 

manXifacture, amount of fruit used, and product, 1907, Italy 10 

Italy, details 43, 49-50 

Messina, destruction by earthquake, 1908 30 

prices in Italy 50 

sale in Italy, methods 49-50 

source of citric acid 15, 43 

160 



56 ITALIAN LEMONS AND THEIR BY-PRODUCTS. 

Page. 

Limoni lemons, description 22 

Maggiolini lemons, description 22 

Majori lemons, growing under trellises, Italy 28 

Manure, composted, use on lemon gardens, Italy 23, 25 

green, value in lemon gardens, Italy 26 

quantity per tree in lemon gardens, Italy 26 

use in lemon gardens, methods of application, Italy 26 

Messina, destruction of lemons and citrate of lime by earthquake 20, 30 

district, Italy, lemon by-product industry 38-39 

lemon export trade 10, 12-13, 20, 21, 38, 39, 42 

growing 8, 9, 10, 20, 21, 23 

Mount Etna lava beds, lemon growing 8, 23 

Najiles, lemon industry 8, 12-13 

Nitrate of soda. See Soda. 

Oil, bergamot, manufactvu-e and machine extraction, Calabria 36, 48 

See also Oils, essential. 

lemon, distilled, inferior qualAy 48 

essential, extraction, Italy 45-47 

machine-made, Italy 48-49 

exports from Italy, 1900-1908 17 

extraction, night work, Italy, reasons assigned 44 

process, Italy 45-47 

factories, Sicily, description, location, and equipment 35^3, 44 

imports into United States, 1898-1908 17 

machine-made, Italy 48 

prices in Italy , 50 

See also Oils, essential. 

orange, manufacture, Sicily 38, 42 

See also Oils, essential. 

residues, treatment 47 

Oils, essential, extraction process, methods in Italy 45-48 

from citrus fruits, exports from Italy, 1898-1908 16-17 

Orange, bitter, use as stock for lemon grafting, Italy 24 

oil manufacture, Sicily 38, 42 

peel, exports from Italy, 1898-1908 18-19 

Packing lemons, Italy, methods 31-32 

Palermo district, Italy, lemon by-product industry 40^1 

lemon export trade 10, 12-13, 20, 21, 41 

growing 8, 9, 10, 20, 21, 23 

Peel, citrus fi-uits, exports from Italy, 1898-1908 18-19 

lemon, exports from Italy, 1898-1908 18-19 

salting, Italy 43 

orange, exports from Italy, 1898-1908 - 18-19 

Peeling lemons for oil extraction, methods and cost of labor, Italy 44 

Picking lemons in Italy, methods 30-31 

Ports, Italian, shipping lemons to United States 10, 12-13, 20 

Potash, sulphate, fertilizer for lemon gardens, Italy 25 

Powell, G. Harold, paper entitled "The Italian lemon industry" 7-33 

Pruning, lemon trees, Italian method .* 25 

Pulp, lemon, use in manufactiue of citrate of lime, Italy 46, 49-50 

Rainfall, annual, Sicily 27 

Rock, ground, fertilizer for lemon gardens, Italy 25 

Santa Teresa, lemon oil factories 38 

160 



INDEX. 57 

Page. 

Selling lemons in Italy, methods 28-29 

Shipping lemons in Italy, seasons and methods 20, 31 

Sicily, lemon by-product industry 8, 10, 15, 35-43 

growing districts, description, seasons, etc 7-10, 20 

industry, importance 7-10, 21, 35-43 

oil manufacture, districts and factories, description 35-43 

rainfall and temperature 27 

Slag, fertilizer for lemon gardens, Italy 25 

Soda, nitrate, as nitrogen source for lemon fertilizing 23, 25 

Sorrentine peninsula, lemon growing 8, 20, 23, 27-28 

Sorrento lemons, growing under trellises 28 

Sponging process for extraction of lemon oil 46 

Still, lemon oil, Italy, description 47 

Syracuse district, Italy, lemon by-product industry 41-42 

growing 8-9, 20 

Tariff rates on lemons and their by-products entering United States 19 

Terraces, lemon growing, Sorrentine peninsula 8, 28 

Tillage of lemon gardens, Italy 25 

Trees, citrus fruit, Italy, number, estimate . ._ 7 

lemon, Italy, distribution and total number, 1898 10 

planting distance 24 

yield in different localities 24 

Trellises, lemon groves, description 8, 27-28 

United States, distribution of foreign lemons 13 

districts from which Italian lemons are exported 12-13 

imports of citrate of lime 10 

lemon oil 17 

lemons 11-12 

methods of handling foreign lemons 13-15 

rates of duty on lemons and their by-products 19 

Verdelli lemons, description and methods of production 22-23 

160 

o 



JjJBRARY OF CONGRESS 



if^^, 



